Survivor of Kazakhstan plane crash recounts harrowing ordeal
Flight attendant Aydan Rahimli recounted the dramatic events that unfolded aboard the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that was shot down. The disaster occurred on December 25 in Kazakhstan, with 29 survivors.
Flight 8243 of Azerbaijan Airlines, travelling from Baku to Grozny, ended in tragedy. On December 25, the plane crashed in Kazakhstan, and of the 67 individuals on board, 29 survived.
Among the fortunate survivors was flight attendant Aydan Rahimli, who shared her harrowing experience with "Khazar Khabar" reporters.
She survived the plane crash, recalls the explosions
Rahimli remembers that there were two powerful explosions on board that severely damaged the aircraft. Shrapnel injured both passengers and crew.
"One passenger was also injured in the leg," Rahimli reported. The flight attendant also described how her colleague Hokuma Alijewa, who tragically lost her life, was assisting passengers until the very end.
Another colleague, flight attendant Zulfugar Asadov, survived the crash. In an interview with the "New York Times," he expressed his relief: "Thank God I'm alive."
Aydan lost consciousness during the crash. She only regained her senses when she was being rescued from the wreckage. "I opened my eyes and saw workers. I asked where I was, and they said that we were in Aktau," Rahimli recounted.
Preliminary findings suggest that the plane was shot down by a Russian Pantsir-S system. There were also reports of navigation system disruptions. Azerbaijani government sources indicate that the missile was launched during a defense operation against Ukrainian drones.
The Azerbaijan Minister of Transport and the press service of Azerbaijan Airlines confirmed that the disaster was caused by external factors. The Azerbaijani authorities are calling for an investigation to explain the causes of the tragedy and identify those responsible for the plane being shot down.
