AN Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet with 67 people on board crashed yesterday in western Kazakhstan after veering from its scheduled route, officials said.

Kazakh authorities said 28 people had survived the crash of the Embraer 190 near the city of Aktau, an oil and gas hub on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea.

The plane was flying from the Azerbaijani capital Baku on the western shore of the Caspian Sea to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia.

Azerbaijan Airlines, the country’s flag carrier, said the plane had 62 passengers and five crew on board.

It said the plane “made an emergency landing” around 3 kilometers from Aktau.

The Kazakh transport ministry said that of the plane’s passengers, 37 were from Azerbaijan, six from Kazakhstan, three from Kyrgyzstan, and 16 from Russia.

The Chinese Consulate General in Aktobe confirmed to Xinhua News Agency that there were no Chinese nationals on board the plane.

The initial cause of the tragedy appears to be a bird strike.

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) said its staff put out a fire which broke out when the plane crashed.

It said 150 emergency workers were at the scene.

The plane’s course on Flight Radar showed it crossing the Caspian Sea away from its normal route and then circling over the area where it eventually crashed.

Kazakhstan said it had opened an investigation into the crash.

The Embraer 190 aircraft is designed to carry between 96 and 114 passengers, depending on its cabin configuration. The aircraft can fly up to 4,500 km.

According to FlightAware, the aircraft took off from Baku 11 minutes ahead of schedule. While flying over the Caspian Sea, it issued an emergency signal.

Azerbaijani media reported that the aircraft was unable to obtain permission to land in Grozny due to fog, leading it to be redirected to Makhachkala and later to Aktau.

(SD-Xinhua)