Death toll at 38 after doomed Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashes on Christmas Day

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An Azerbaijani plane with 67 people onboard has crashed near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, killing 38 people and leaving 29 survivors, a Kazakh official said.

Deputy prime minister Kanat Bozumbaev disclosed the figures while meeting with Azerbaijani officials, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.

The Embraer 190 was en route from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus when it was diverted and attempted an emergency landing three kilometres (1.8 miles) from Aktau, Azerbaijan Airlines said.

Speaking at a news conference, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash, but said that the weather had forced the plane to change from its planned course.“The information provided to me is that the plane changed its course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed to Aktau airport, where it crashed upon landing,” he said.Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said preliminary information showed that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike led to an emergency on board.