Kazakhstan, plane crash. Reports from passengers who were on board

Russian and Kazakh media published accounts of passengers who survived the crash of the Embraer 190, which crashed on Wednesday morning near the city of Aktau on the Kazakh coast of the Caspian Sea, as well as witnesses who helped evacuate people after the plane crashed.

– The plane tried to land two or three times, but it failed. It was somewhere in the Grozny region, Subkhonkul Rakhimov told journalists of the Russian government television RT (formerly Russia Today). His account is also quoted by other media, including the Kazakh portal Zakon and the Russian section of the BBC.

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Rakhimov claimed that he and other passengers heard a bang, but it was unclear what exploded and where. He later noticed that the plane was returning towards Aktau. – Thank you to the pilot, he saved us with his maneuver. If it weren't for him, we would all have died, the man maintained, without specifying whether the maneuver was to return to the Kazakh city.

The man said that everyone who sat next to him survived. According to him, people were moaning in pain and asking for help. The man – as the Kazakh portal Zakon wrote – “miraculously did not suffer any injuries, but is currently suffering from severe headaches.”

Rakhimov, 48, lives in Yekaterinburg, was on a business flight to Grozny, had a transfer in Baku, the Order said.

36-year-old Zaur Mamedov – who was also on board the plane – was returning from his father's funeral in Baku. When the crash happened, he recorded a voicemail to a friend. “Don't worry. Our plane fell and crashed. I'm alive. I'm somewhere in Kazakhstan.”

Mamedov also heard the bang and also did not know what happened. The man reported to the Russian Telegram channel Shot that one of the passengers was not allowed to board before departure.

The man was injured in the leg and was taken to hospital. He survived because he was, like Rakhimov, in the back of the plane.

Kristina from Vladivostok was also injured. It also took place in the back of the plane. In an interview with the Russian Telegram channel Mash, the Russian woman said that she felt an impact when landing.

Kristina mentioned that when the plane fell to the ground, she lost consciousness. When she woke up, she saw that her leg was immobilized. She managed to pull it out from under the seat and lower the machine.

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The account of one of the witnesses of the disaster, Elmira, was described by the Russian independent television Nastoyashchee Vremya (Current Times). It was reported that the woman was traveling by bus to work that day. Near the crash site, the driver stopped the bus and the people inside rushed to help. – We ran in that direction. We were pulling passengers out of the back of the plane, and the other part was on fire, Elmira told journalists.

– Among those we pulled out, there was a little girl who said: “save my mother, my mother is left there” – the interlocutor told television. – Those we pulled out were covered in blood, crying and shouting “help”. I ran and cried too. I have it all in my mind all the time, admitted Elmira.

The Azerbaijan Airlines plane, flying from the capital of Azerbaijan Baku to Grozny in Russia, crashed at 11.30 Astana time (7.30 in Poland) near the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan, located on the Caspian Sea. According to reports from Russian and Kazakh portals, there was thick fog over Grozny, so the plane was to be sent to an alternate airport in the capital of Russian Dagestan – Makhachkala.

There were 67 people on board. 38 people died. It was previously reported that in the meantime, there was most likely a collision with a flock of birds, which resulted in a failure of the control system.