Chilling video footage taken from inside the doomed Azerbaijan Airlines plane captures the terrifying last moments before it crashed.
Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 crashed this morning near the Kazakh city of Aktau, while attempting an “emergency landing”.
Local officials say that about 70 people were on board at the time. At least 32 passengers are reported to have survived the crash.
In the harrowing video clip posted to social media, a man records a message to his wife, using his mobile phone, while others can be heard praying.
Oxygen masks can be seen hanging down inside the cabin, while some people are standing in the plane’s corridor.
Rescuers rushed to the scene of the crash and searched the wreckage of the fuselage, desperately looking for survivors.
Video footage shot by emergency workers shows dazed and bloodied passengers emerging from the severed rear of the plane.
Some sat in shock on the ground after escaping from the aircraft, while others managed to walk clear.
One trapped woman begs rescuers to help her and is eventually freed from the debris by a fireman.
Another video captured the horrifying moment the plane smashed into the ground.
It can be seen heading towards the ground at high speed with its landing gear down, before bursting into flames and breaking up into several parts.
The Embraer 190 passeneher jet took off from the Azerbaijani capital Baku at 03:55 GMT on Wednesday, and crashed around 06:28, according to data from flight-tracking website Flightradar24.
Those on board were mostly Azerbaijani nationals, but there were also some passengers from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
Russia‘s Air Transport Agency reported that the aircraft collided with a flock of birds before it crashed, though this has not been confirmed by other sources.
The airline said it had set up a hotline for family members of those on the flight, adding there were no children among the passengers.
Both Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have launched investigations into the incident.