BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 27. All necessary steps are being taken to bring to Azerbaijan and bury the bodies of the victims of the crash of the AZAL plane near Aktau on the Baku-Grozny flight, Azerbaijani Health Minister Teymur Musayev told reporters, TurkicWorld reports.
He made these remarks while commenting on the state of health of the wounded in the crash of the AZAL plane near Aktau, hospitalized in Yeni Klinika.
According to him, after completion of relevant legal and forensic studies in Kazakhstan, the bodies of the victims will be delivered to Azerbaijan and buried.
The Minister expressed condolences to the families of the victims of the airplane crash.
He emphasized that the preliminary investigation into the causes of the accident is still ongoing.
"At the moment it is impossible to give a precise statement on this topic, and all details of the incident will be known only after the investigation is completed. The Azerbaijani government will continue to work in close cooperation with Kazakhstan and take all possible measures to treat and support our compatriots.
We cannot say for sure what caused the injuries of the victims. Shrapnel, bullets, or something else—this is a topic for a separate investigation. The main injuries are fractures and blunt trauma," he added.
To note, the passenger plane Embraer 190 belonging to AZAL, which was on the Baku-Grozny route, crashed 3 kilometers from Aktau airport on December 25.
A total of 67 people (62 passengers and 5 crew members) were on board the plane.
Following the crash of the passenger plane, 27 people were admitted to the hospital. Of them, 15 people are citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 8 of the Russian Federation, and 3 of the Kyrgyz Republic. The identity of one person has not yet been established.
Both pilots of the crew as well as the flight attendant were dead; two crew members survived.
On December 26, 14 victims and the bodies of four dead were transported to Azerbaijan.
"Black box" of the plane has already been found and procedures are being carried out to analyze it under international aviation conventions. At the moment, an investigation into the causes of the crash is underway. Final conclusions will be made after all necessary investigations and data analysis are completed.