Relative of the survivor of the plane crash near Aktau told about his rescue

Subkhonkul Rakhimov, who survived the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane, was saved because he was in the tail section of the ship and was buckled up. This was reported to "Izvestia" on December 25 by his relative Ekaterina Rakhimova.

According to the woman, she has already contacted the victim - he has a scratch on his face and is now in the hospital. She noted that the trip was not a working trip and the man often flies.

"As I understand it, he was not supposed to be on this plane, like there were no tickets. Some kind of layover, I didn't realize. <...> He said he was in the tail section, for one thing. Those in the tail section all survived, apparently. And he was wearing a seat belt. He said that it saved him," - said the interlocutor of the publication.

She also shared that the passengers of the liner realized that something was wrong with the plane even in the air - the plane first circled over the Caspian Sea.

"The whole plane was praying. <...> He (Subhonkul. - Ed.) has six children. Two have just been born. The family is in Yekaterinburg. He said that they are now being examined in the hospital, and then ... I don't think he knows anything. Maybe he knows, but he doesn't tell us," Rakhimova concluded.

Tragedy in Aktau: Baku-Grozny passenger plane crashed

A fire started at the scene and there are survivors

A passenger airplane of Azerbaijan Airlines, en route Baku - Grozny, crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau earlier in the day. After the crash the plane caught fire, the fire was extinguished. According to the latest data, 32 people survived the crash. Preliminarily, the cause of the fall of the airplane could have been a collision with a flock of birds.

Azerbaijan Airlines has published the list of passengers of the airplane crashed near Aktau, it includes 62 people, 32 survivors in total, the General Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan said. The Ministry of Transport of Kazakhstan reported that 16 Russians were on the plane. The Russian Embassy in the republic reported that 10 of them survived and were hospitalized. The Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia opened a hotline against the background of the incident.

"Izvestia" published a video shot by one of the passengers shortly before the crash.