AZAL plane crash: Ilham Aliyev thanks Kazakhstanis

On December 29 President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev gave an interview to Azerbaijan’s television at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport, Kazinform News Agency reports.

"That is what the real friendship and fraternity is. I first called President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to express my gratitude. We know that Kazakhstani rescuers rushed to the plane crash site and started to pull people from the plane," he said in the interview. 

He said Kazakhstanis put their lives at risk since they didn’t know whether another explosion would occur or not. The President of Azerbaijan also highlighted the work of doctors. "I know that the demonstration of solidarity by our Kazakh brothers and sisters also left a great mark in the hearts of the Azerbaijani people," he noted

Besides, the President revealed some facts regarding the plane crash near the city of Aktau. He stressed the final version will be known as soon as the black boxes are examined. "And the facts are that Azerbaijan’s passenger plane suffered damages outside in the territory of Russia, near the city of Grozny, and lost control," the President said

As reported  earlier, 38 died and 29 survived as Baku-Grozny flight J2-8243 operated by Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on December 25.

As written before, the Kazakh Transport Ministry revealed the details of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash near Aktau.

Earlier it was reported that the bodies of 10 deceased people out of 38 have been so far identified.

The chronology of the tragedy is available here.