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Azerbaijan Airlines plane crashes in Kazakhstan, many feared dead
STORY: :: This report contains content some people may find distressingAn eyewitness video shows the moment a passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, with many feared dead. Kazakh authorities said 62 passengers and five crew were on board the plane, which was operated by Azerbaijan Airlines.At least 32 people were rescued, they said, and survivors, including two children, were being treated at a nearby hospital.The plane had flown hundreds of miles off its scheduled route to crash on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea, close to the city of Aktau, Kazakhstan.Russia’s aviation watchdog said a bird strike may have forced the pilot to land.:: Kazakh emergencies ministryOfficials did not immediately explain why it had crossed the sea, but the crash came shortly after drone strikes hit southern Russia. :: Kazakh emergencies ministryDrone activity has shut airports in the area in the past and at least one airport there was closed on Wednesday morning.Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 jet was flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of the Chechnya region in southern Russia.Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-backed leader of Chechnya, said in a statement some of those being treated in hospital were in a serious condition.Authorities in Kazakhstan said a government commission had been set up to investigate the cause of the crash.