Putin announced the departure to Aktau of a Russian Emergencies Ministry plane with doctors and equipment

A Russian Emergencies Ministry board with medical personnel and equipment has flown to Kazakhstan's Aktau, where an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane flying from Baku to Grozny crashed. This was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin at an informal summit of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

"By agreement with the President of Kazakhstan, a Russian Emergencies Ministry plane with medical personnel and with the necessary additional equipment on board is flying to Aktau," Putin said.

The head of state is confident that there will be a thorough investigation into the crash of the passenger aircraft. Moscow and Astana will coordinate the work of special and aviation services on all issues related to the crash.

In addition, Putin expressed condolences to the families of the victims of the plane crash and called what happened a tragedy. The head of state expressed hope for a speedy recovery of all the victims.

Tragedy in Aktau: Baku-Grozny passenger plane crashed

A fire started at the scene and there are survivors

A passenger airplane of Azerbaijan Airlines on the Baku-Grozny route crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau earlier in the day. After the crash the plane caught fire, the fire was extinguished. The preliminary cause of the fall of the airplane was named collision with a flock of birds. After the crash, a criminal case was opened under the article "Violation of safety rules in the operation of vehicles, causing the death of two or more persons by negligence".

On December 25, AZAL Airlines published a list of 62 passengers of the crashed plane. Thirty-two survivors have been found and hospitalized. The probable reason for the rescue of many people on board was the separation of the tail section of the plane.

The Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) told Izvestia that there were no organized groups of Russian tourists on board the crashed Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft. The Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan reported that 16 Russians were on the plane. According to the Russian Embassy in the republic, 10 of them survived and were taken to hospitals.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev interrupted his visit to Russia because of the disaster and went to Baku. Immediately after his return, he held a meeting on the plane crash.