Amid reports of alleged Russian anti-aircraft involvement behind the Kazakhstan plane crash on December 25, Azerbaijan Airlines said the accident was result of "physical and technical external interference".
At least 38 people, including two pilots, were killed in the flight crash in Kazakhstan's Aktau city on Christmas day. A total of 67 people were aboard the Embraer 190 aircraft Flight J2-8243.
Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer ERJ-190AR (4K-AZ65) passenger plane traveling from Baku to Grozny crashes near Aktau, Kazakhstan earlier today. There were 72 occupants including five crew members.
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) December 25, 2024
Six survivors are in critical condition. Pending any official confirmation,… pic.twitter.com/cjRzOrPzQ8
Russia on Friday had stated that the flight was diverted from its destination in Chechnya's Grozny as Ukrainian drones were targeting civilian infrastructure in the city, according to CNN.
Following this, the airspace was shut in the cities of Grozny and Vladikavkaz, forcing the flight to divert.
Probably the luckiest people on the planet, they survived a plane crash in Kazakhstan.
— Punny (@PunnyBhaiya) December 25, 2024
One guy was just walking away. Insane luck! pic.twitter.com/xkORzDLnra
Earlier, reports claimed that a Russian surface-to-air missile was "accidentally fired" on the flight, resulting in the crash.
However, Moscow has denied the allegations. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday said he did not want to give any assessments until the official probe is concluded.
Caliber, a government-linked Azerbaijani website, citing officials, said a missile from a Pantsir-S air defence system hit the flight.
These videos prove that the cause of the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 in Kazakhstan was not "bird strikes" as was claimed earlier but rather anti aircraft weapon and/or apparently even small arms fire.
— 🄴🄻ϻ🄴🅁 🄵µ🄳🄳 ✝️ (@Elmr_Fudd_again) December 25, 2024
Bullet holes can be seen in the plane from witnesses on the… pic.twitter.com/N23hJaWkFO
Videos circulated online showed holes in the plane's nose caused by shrapnel from missiles, according to experts quoted by AFP.
A surviving passenger told Reuters that he heard a loud bang when the flight neared Grozny. "I thought the plane was going to fall apart," the news agency quoted passenger Subhonkul Rakhimov, as saying.
Vafa Shabanova, another passenger, told the news agency that she also heard two bangs and was “very scared".
