Passengers' prayer moments before Azerbaijan plane crashes

Azerbaijan Airlines Flight J2-8243 flew hundreds of kilometers off course to the Russian Republic of Chechnya before crashing near the Kazakh city of Aktau on the Caspian Sea on December 25.

The Azerbaijan Airlines plane was carrying 62 passengers and five crew members. Kazakh officials said 32 survivors were found at the scene.

Several videos shared on social media, from survivors, have revealed the final minutes on the flight and the time immediately after the accident.

A video posted on the Russian Telegram channel112Footage showed passengers reciting the Islamic prayer Allahu Akbar (God is greatest) or breaking into tears as the plane began to descend rapidly, while the crew made an announcement over the loudspeaker about a possible emergency landing.

Yellow oxygen masks popped out of their storage compartments and dropped onto some seats. While most of the passengers remained seated, a few stood between the rows of seats, chatting and looking around nervously.

Another video, posted on the news agency's X accountRT, showing part of the passenger cabin after the plane crashed. The area in the video appears to be the tail section of the plane, which broke away from the fuselage but did not shatter.

Passengers lay scattered inside, their belongings thrown about and groans of pain. Some were motionless, but many were conscious enough to scream for help and try to climb out of the doors.

Several videos of the crash shared on social media showed the fuselage of the plane with many small holes, located close together. Kazakhstani authorities said they were looking into the causes of the incident, including the hypothesis of a technical failure. The plane that crashed was made by the Brazilian company Embraer and had a maximum capacity of 114 passengers.

The Russian aviation agency Rosaviatsia said the plane hit a bird while flying from Baku to Grozny. The emergency situation forced the captain to divert to the alternate airport in Aktau. The plane crashed near the coast of the Caspian Sea while preparing to land.

Aktau city of Kazakhstan, located on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, opposite Azerbaijan and Russia.

Flight tracking websites showed the Embraer initially flying along its scheduled route along the western shore of the Caspian Sea before suddenly losing contact. The flight then reappeared over the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, circling near Aktau airport before crashing onto the beach.

On the same morning, Russian authorities in the two regions of Ingushetia and North Ossetia, located next to the Republic of Chechnya, issued an air defense alert to deal with an attack by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Ukraine.

Makhachkala Airport, located in the capital of Russia's Dagestan Republic, confirmed it had suspended incoming flights for several hours during the day due to air defense alerts. Makhachkala is also the closest air traffic control point to the Embraer's last known location.

Azerbaijan Airlines has suspended all flights from Baku to Chechnya until the investigation into the cause of the crash is completed. The Kazakh government has pledged to cooperate closely with Azerbaijan throughout the investigation.