Saudi Arabia Offers Condolences to Azerbaijan after Plane Crash

A handout photo made available by the press service of the Ministry for Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan shows emergency specialists working at the crash site of a passenger plane near Aktau, Kazakhstan, 25 December 2024. (EPA/Kazakhstan Emergencies Ministry handout)

Saudi Arabia offered on Wednesday its condolences to Azerbaijan following the plane crash in Kazakhstan.

A Foreign Ministry statement said the Kingdom expressed its condolences to the families of the deceased and to the government and people of Azerbaijan. It wished the injured a speedy recovery.

The Muslim World League (MWL) also extended its condolences to the government and people of Azerbaijan following the crash.

An Embraer passenger jet flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing 38 people while 29 survivors received hospital treatment, Kazakh authorities said.

Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 had flown hundreds of miles off its scheduled route to crash on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea, after what Russia's aviation watchdog said was an emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike. But an aviation expert suggested that cause seemed unlikely.

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said according to information he had received, the plane changed course due to poor weather, but he added the cause of the crash was unknown and must be fully investigated.