Scores killed in Kazakhstan plane crash

An Azerbaijani airliner with 67 people on board crashed on Christmas Day near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, leaving at least 32 survivors, according to officials. More than 30 people may be dead.

The Embraer 190 was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus.

Preliminary information showed that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike led to an emergency on board, Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Russia's civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, as saying.

Kazakhstan's emergency ministry said in a telegram statement that those on board included five crew. A total of 29 survivors, including two children, have been hospitalised, the ministry told RIA Novosti.

Another Russian news agency, Interfax, quoted medical workers as saying that four bodies have been recovered and emergency workers at the scene as saying that both pilots died.

The Prosecutor General's Office said that the number of 32 survivors wasn't final and, according to Azerbaijan's foreign ministry, some of them were in critical condition. The number of survivors could mean that over 30 people may be dead.

According to Kazakh officials, those aboard the plane included 42 Azerbaijani citizens, 16 Russian nationals, six Kazakhs, and three Kyrgyzstan nationals.