"Upon arrival, the aircraft was found to be on fire. Rescue units began extinguishing the blaze," commented the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The crash involved an Embraer 190 aircraft belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines. The plane was en route from Baku to Grozny. Before the disaster, it circled several times over the airfield.
A republican operational headquarters has been established at the Ministry of Emergency Situations command center, where a hotline is operational.