Not less than 42 persons may have died in an Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash on Wednesday morning, Christmas Day in the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan’s emergency ministry said in a statement on Telegram that 42 people of the 67 on board the Embraer 190 are likely dead, while 25 survived, of which 22 have been hospitalised.
According to preliminary reports from the airline, flight 8432 travelling from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to Grozny in Russia made an emergency landing some 3 kilometres from Aktau after reportedly colliding with a flock of birds.
More than 50 first responders and 11 units of equipment from the Kazakhstan emergency ministry were deployed to the site of the crash.
The plane was carrying 67 people, including five members of the cabin crew.
Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha
Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers.
She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay.
She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos.
As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender.
She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies.
Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the
prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category.
She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category.
She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations.
Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.
