Azerbaijan Airlines Plane Requested Emergency Landing Before Crashing

The Azerbaijan Airlines plane, which crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, had reportedly requested an emergency landing before the incident. The flight was carrying 67 passengers onboard, including five crew members. According to reports, the plane was flying from Baku to Grozny in Russia's Chechnya. However, it was re-routed due to a fog in Grozny.

"A plane doing the Baku-Grozny route crashed near the city of Aktau. It belongs to Azerbaijan Airlines," the Kazakh transport ministry said.

The plane, Embraer 190, had initially made an emergency landing around three kilometers from Aktau, an oil and gas hub on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea.

Videos on social media showed the aircraft rapidly losing altitude and bursting into flames upon crashing.

It is not yet clear how many people have died, but preliminary information revealed that there are some survivors.