New Delhi:

A harrowing video shot by a passenger in the cabin of a plane that crashed in Kazakhstan today has been shared widely on social media, showing the doomed plane’s final moments. The crash near Aktau, an oil and gas hub on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, killed 35 people.

In the video, the passenger can be heard saying “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) as the plane goes into a steep descent. Yellow oxygen masks hung above the seats. Screaming and crying could be heard amid the soft, doorbell-like glow of the “fasten seat belt” light.

The plane flew from the Azerbaijani capital Baku on the western bank of the Caspian Sea to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia. Azerbaijan Airlines, the country’s national airline, said the plane made an “emergency landing” about three kilometers from Aktau.

Another video taken in the cabin – the plane’s ceiling panel with reading lights and air fans upside down – showed people calling for help. The video was clearly taken after the plane crashed.

The Azerbaijan Airlines plane’s final moments before crashing in Kazakhstan were captured by a passenger on board.

Aftermath is also included in the footage. pic.twitter.com/nCRozjdoUY

– Conflict Report (@clashreport) December 25, 2024

Blood stains were visible on some armrests.

According to Azerbaijani authorities, 32 people survived the crash of the Embraer 190 narrow-body passenger plane.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declared Thursday a national day of mourning and canceled a planned visit to Russia for an informal summit of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a grouping of former Soviet states.

Kazakhstan’s Emergencies Ministry said its employees extinguished a fire that broke out when the plane crashed. The Ministry of Health announced that a special flight with specialist doctors would be sent from the Kazakh capital Astana to treat the injured.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Aliyev and also “expressed his condolences in connection with the crash,” his spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a news conference.

A Russian emergency ministry had been sent to Aktau with medical personnel and other equipment, President Putin said later as he opened the meeting of CIS leaders in Saint Petersburg.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on Telegram: “I express my condolences to the relatives of the passengers of the Azerbaijan Airlines jet who died.”

The plane’s heading on Flight Radar showed it crossed the Caspian Sea off its normal route and then circled over the area where it eventually crashed.

Kazakhstan said it had launched an investigation.

With contributions from AFP