Azerbaijani minister says weapon may have caused fatal plane crash

Published December 27,2024

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The Azerbaijani authorities has publicly made reference to a weapon used towards the passenger aircraft that crashed earlier this week close to town of Aktau in Kazakhstan, killing 38 individuals.

“The investigation will clarify what kind of weapon was used to cause the external impact,” Transport Minister Rashad Nabiyev mentioned on Friday, based on the Azerbaijani state news company Azertag.

Nabiyev mentioned that the wreckage and witness statements steered that the plane had been broken from the skin above the unique vacation spot airport in Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.

“According to these [statements], there was an explosive noise outside and then the aircraft was hit by something,” he mentioned.

At the time the aircraft was broken on Wednesday morning, Russian air defences had been reportedly engaged in fight with Ukrainian drones within the area.

Nabiyev didn’t specify who, based on authorities intelligence, had fired on the plane.

Several media retailers, citing unnamed Azerbaijani authorities sources, had beforehand reported that the crash was a results of a Russian anti-aircraft missile.

Spokesman for the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, echoed these suspicions on Friday. “We have seen some early indications that would certainly point to the possibility that this jet was brought down by Russian air defense systems,” the US official mentioned.

Azerbaijan Airlines mentioned the preliminary investigation outcomes recommend the incident was attributable to “physical and technical effects from outside.”

Photos of the plane’s tail part present harm that resembles the impression holes of shrapnel from anti-aircraft weapons.

Nabiyev additionally questioned why the aircraft tried an emergency touchdown in Aktau, noting that it had flown over the airport in Makhachkala, the capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan, following the harm.

Investigators must make clear whether or not an emergency touchdown had been approved or denied in Makhachkala, he mentioned, in addition to why the plane’s satellite tv for pc place had been disrupted.