Azerbaijan Observes Day of Mourning for Air Crash Victims as Speculation Mount about Its Cause

People lay flowers to commemorate victims of an Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer passenger plane crash near the Kazakh city of Aktau, at a memorial installed outside an airport in Baku, Azerbaijan, December 26, 2024. (Reuters)
People lay flowers to commemorate victims of an Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer passenger plane crash near the Kazakh city of Aktau, at a memorial installed outside an airport in Baku, Azerbaijan, December 26, 2024. (Reuters)
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Azerbaijan Observes Day of Mourning for Air Crash Victims as Speculation Mount about Its Cause

People lay flowers to commemorate victims of an Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer passenger plane crash near the Kazakh city of Aktau, at a memorial installed outside an airport in Baku, Azerbaijan, December 26, 2024. (Reuters)
People lay flowers to commemorate victims of an Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer passenger plane crash near the Kazakh city of Aktau, at a memorial installed outside an airport in Baku, Azerbaijan, December 26, 2024. (Reuters)

Azerbaijan on Thursday observed a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of the air crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured as speculation mounted about a possible cause of the crash that remained unknown.

Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan's capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons yet unclear and crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau in Kazakhstan after flying east across the Caspian Sea.

The plane went down about 3 kilometers (around 2 miles) from Aktau. Cellphone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Other footage showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rest of the aircraft lying upside in the grass.

On Thursday, national flags were lowered across Azerbaijan, traffic across the country stopped at noon, and signals were sounded from ships and trains as the country observed a nationwide moment of silence.

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that 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 that preliminary information indicated that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike led to an emergency on board.

According to Kazakh officials, those aboard the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs and three Kyrgyzstan nationals.

As the official crash investigation started, theories abounded about a possible cause, with some commentators alleging that holes seen in the plane's tail section possibly indicate that it could have come under fire from Russian air defense systems fending off a Ukrainian drone attack.

Ukrainian drones had previously attacked Grozny, the provincial capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, and other regions in the country's North Caucasus. Some Russian media claimed that another drone attack on Chechnya happened on Wednesday, although it wasn't officially confirmed.

Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation security firm based in the United Kingdom, warned its clients that the “Azerbaijan Airlines flight was likely shot down by a Russian military air-defense system.” Osprey provides analysis for carriers still flying into Russia after Western airlines halted their flights during the war.

Osprey CEO Andrew Nicholson said that the company had issued more than 200 alerts regarding drone attacks and air defense systems in Russia during the war.

“This incident is a stark reminder of why we do what we do,” Nicholson wrote online. “It is painful to know that despite our efforts, lives were lost in a way that could have been avoided.”

Asked about the claims that the plane had been fired upon by air defense assets, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “it would be wrong to make hypotheses before investigators make their verdict.”

Officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have similarly avoided comment on a possible cause of the crash, saying it will be up to investigators to determine it.



4 Dead, 30 Missing after Ferry Sinks on Way to Indonesia's Bali

Family members wait at Ketapang Port in East Java for updates on the search for missing people after a ferry sank on its way to the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali. STR / AFP
Family members wait at Ketapang Port in East Java for updates on the search for missing people after a ferry sank on its way to the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali. STR / AFP
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4 Dead, 30 Missing after Ferry Sinks on Way to Indonesia's Bali

Family members wait at Ketapang Port in East Java for updates on the search for missing people after a ferry sank on its way to the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali. STR / AFP
Family members wait at Ketapang Port in East Java for updates on the search for missing people after a ferry sank on its way to the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali. STR / AFP

At least four people were dead and dozens unaccounted for Thursday after a ferry sank in rough seas on its way to Indonesian resort island Bali, according to rescue authorities who said 31 survivors had been plucked from the water so far.

Rescuers were racing to find 30 people still missing at sea after the vessel carrying 65 passengers and crew sank before midnight on Wednesday as it sailed to the popular holiday destination from Indonesia's main island Java.

"The ferry tilted and immediately sank," survivor Eka Toniansyah told reporters at a Bali hospital.

"Most of the passengers were from Indonesia. I was with my father. My father is dead."

Indonesia's national search and rescue agency chief Mohammad Syafii told a news conference Thursday that 31 survivors had been found, AFP reported.

"Four people died, so 30 people are still being searched for," he said, adding the national agency sent a helicopter to help the effort.

President Prabowo Subianto, who was on a trip to Saudi Arabia, ordered an immediate emergency response, cabinet secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said in a statement Thursday, adding the cause of the accident was "bad weather".

Java-based Surabaya search and rescue agency head Nanang Sigit, who had earlier put the total number of missing at 38, said efforts to reach the doomed vessel were initially hampered by adverse weather conditions.

Waves as high as 2.5 meters (8 feet) with "strong winds and strong currents" had affected the rescue operation, he said, adding conditions have since improved

A rescue team of at least 54 personnel including from the navy and police were dispatched along with inflatable rescue boats, he said, while a bigger vessel was later sent from Surabaya city to assist the search efforts.

Following currents

Nanang said rescuers would follow currents and expand the search area if there were still unaccounted for people by the end of the day.

"For today's search, we are still focusing on search above the water where initial victims were found," the Surabaya search and rescue chief said.

The ferry's manifest showed 53 passengers and 12 crew members, he said, but rescuers were still assessing if there were more people onboard than the manifest showed.

It is common in Indonesia for the actual number of passengers on a boat to differ from the manifest.

Frequent accidents

The ferry crossing from Ketapang port in Java's Banyuwangi regency to Bali's Gilimanuk port -- one of the busiest in Indonesia -- is around 5 kilometers (3 miles) as the crow flies and takes around one hour.

It is often used by people crossing between the islands by car.

Four of the known survivors saved themselves by using the ferry's lifeboat and were found in the water early Thursday, the Surabaya rescue agency said.

It said the ferry was also transporting 22 vehicles, including 14 trucks.

It was unclear if any foreigners were onboard when the ferry sank.

Marine accidents are a regular occurrence in Indonesia, a Southeast Asian archipelago of around 17,000 islands, in part due to lax safety standards and sometimes due to bad weather.

In March, a boat carrying 16 people capsized in rough waters off Bali, killing an Australian woman and injuring at least one other person.

A ferry carrying more than 800 people ran aground in shallow waters off East Nusa Tenggara province in 2022 and remained stuck for two days before being dislodged with no one hurt.

And in 2018, more than 150 people drowned when a ferry sank in one of the world's deepest lakes on Sumatra island.