Moskalkova called the plane crash in Kazakhstan an international tragedy

The crash of a passenger plane in Kazakhstan is a tragedy of international scale, Russian human rights ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova said on December 25.

"On board the plane were citizens of Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan ... a tragedy of international scale," she wrote in her Telegram channel.

The ombudsman expressed condolences to the loved ones of those killed in the plane crash and wished the victims a speedy recovery.

She also added that she keeps in touch with her colleague, the Commissioner for Human Rights in Kazakhstan Artur Lastayev.

Tragedy in Aktau: Baku-Grozny passenger plane crashed

A fire started at the scene and there are survivors

A passenger plane of Azerbaijan Airlines on the Baku-Grozny route crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on December 25. After the crash the plane caught fire, the fire was extinguished. Preliminarily, the cause of the plane crash could have been a 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, resulting in the death of two or more persons by negligence".

Later, Azerbaijan Airlines published a list of passengers of the crashed airplane near Aktau. 62 people were listed in the list. It is known that 32 people survived the crash. 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. The Russian Embassy in the Republic reported that 10 of them survived and were hospitalized. At the moment, search and rescue operations continue at the scene of the accident.