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A survivor from the devastating Azerbaijan Airlines crash has spoken of the moment he realised he was alive.
The Azerbaijan Airlines crash, which left 38 dead in Kazakhstan, went down on Christmas Day earlier this week. With 67 people on board, Flight 8243’s crash is currently a mystery as investigations are underway.
The plane, which was traveling to Grozny, Russia from Baku, was filmed as it touched down during an emergency landing and went up in flames as soon as it hit the ground.
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Miraculously, 29 people survived - including Zulfugar Asadov, a flight attendant, and Subhonkul Rakhimov, a passenger.
From his hospital bed in Baku, Asadov spoke to the New York Times in a phone interview, saying: “Thank God I’m alive.”
Having been in such a deadly crash, it’s understandable that it could take a while to come around to the idea that you survived. Telling Reuters in another interview the moment he realised he had made it, passenger Rakhimov said: “I thought that was my last prayer.”
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"After the bang... I thought the plane was going to fall apart," he added.
Seated in the back of the aircraft, he said his body was hit by something, and that he was twisting before it all went silent. The only thing that he could hear were people moaning - which is when he ‘realized that we have landed’.
He said. “I didn’t know what to do — whether to laugh or cry.”
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According to Kazakhstan’s Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev, 11 people were in critical condition after being pulled from the wreckage.
He said, as per CNN: “The bodies are in poor condition, mostly burnt, all collected. Now they will be in the morgue, and identification will take place.”
While only one survivor’s identity remains unknown, Bozumbayev revealed: “She is unconscious, has no documents, and is in the hospital.”
One woman joined the rescue and told Radio Free Europe’s Kazakh Service that the scene before her made her cry.
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She said: “The front (part of the plane) was on fire. We rescued the survivors. Their bodies were covered in blood. They were crying. Everyone was asking for help.”
The woman, known as Elmira, said there were children and teenagers among the survivors.
“A little girl came out. She looked at me and said, 'Save my mom, my mom is still there'. She was crying and begging, 'Please save her, save her',” she said.
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Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russian officials have gone on to launch an investigation into the crash.
Azerbaijan Airlines has suggested that the plane had suffered ‘physical and technical external interference,’ as per translation from the New York Times.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said a Russian Emergencies Ministry plane with medical personnel and equipment was flying to Kazakhstan to assist in the rescue at a summit for the Commonwealth of Independent States.
He said: “Let’s hope for a speedy recovery of the injured ones and, of course, I am sure, a thorough investigation will be carried out. We will coordinate the work of our special and aviation services on all issues related to this tragedy.”
Topics: News, Russia, Travel, World News
Britt Jones