STORY: Azerbaijan declares national mourning over air crash
SHOOTING TIME: Dec. 25, 2024
DATELINE: Dec. 26, 2024
LENGTH: 00:00:47
LOCATION: Baku
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. STANDUP (Chinese): ZHANG HUALIN, Xinhua reporter
2. various of the rescue efforts at the crash site

STORYLINE:

STANDUP (Chinese): ZHANG HUALIN, Xinhua reporter
"I am now in the western Kazakh city of Aktau. Behind me is the crash site of the Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane. The wreckage is scattered across the area after the plane disintegrated, and rescuers are working to deal with the situation."

Azerbaijan has declared Thursday a national day of mourning for the victims of the tragic crash of an Embraer 190 passenger plane operating a Baku-Grozny flight.
     
The aircraft with flight number J2-8243 crashed near Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. The Kazakh ministry of emergency situations has reported 29 survivors.
   
There were 67 people onboard, including 62 passengers and five crew members, Azerbaijan Airlines said on X.
   
Kazakh media said the passengers aboard included 37 citizens from Azerbaijan, 16 from Russia, six from Kazakhstan, and three from Kyrgyzstan.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Baku.
(XHTV)