Dozens killed as plane crashes in Kazakhstan

At least 32 people have survived after a passenger plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines burst into flames as it crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after veering hundreds of miles off its planned route.

- Ashifa Kassam

The flight was carrying 62 passengers and five crew members, the airline said yesterday, suggesting that 30 people had died in the crash. Kazakh authorities said that at least 29 of the survivors, a number that was believed to include two children, were being treated in a nearby hospital. Azerbaijan's foreign ministry said in a statement that some were in critical condition.

The plane was en route from Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, to the Russian city of Grozny in Chechnya. A preliminary assessment suggested that both pilots had died in the crash, the Russian news agency Interfax reported.