A passenger aboard the ill-fated Azerbaijan Airlines flight, which killed 38 people in Kazakhstan’s Aktau on Wednesday, shot a video capturing the final moments of the plane before the crash.
And another showing the aftermath of the incident. A man, who shot the video, showed the cabin and is heard saying ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is Great) as the plane makes a steep descent. In the video, yellow oxygen masks were seen dangling over the seats and panicked passengers were heard praying and shouting. A sound of the ‘wear seatbelt’ light is also heard in the background. India Today could not verify the authenticity of the video.
Another footage shared by Russia’s RT shows the plane which crashed with the aircraft’s ceiling panel and air blower destroyed. Some passengers are seen lying on the floor injured and calling for help, with one of them bleeding from the head. The survivor also shows a yellow life jacket that has been damaged due to the crash.
At least 38 people died and 29 survived after the plane with 67 people onboard crashed in Aktau while making an emergency landing. The airliner, Embraer 190, took off from Baku in Azerbaijan and was headed to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus.
The death toll was confirmed by Kazakhstan Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbaev in a meeting with an Azerbaijani delegation in Aktau, reported Interfax, a Russian news agency.
While the exact cause of the crash has not been ascertained yet, preliminary information showed that the plane was diverted to Aktau after a bird strike led to an emergency, Russia’s aviation watchdog reported. However, according to news agency Reuters, an aviation expert suggested that cause seemed unlikely.
Several videos of moments before the plane crash went viral on social media, and showed the flight nosediving before smashing into the ground, following which the plane burst into flames.