AZAL plane crash: Six victims receiving lifesaving care Two in Critical Condition

Six Azerbaijani citizens injured in the crash of an AZAL passenger plane near Aktau on December 25 last year are still receiving treatment at the Yeni Klinika hospital.

According to the press service of Azerbaijani Management Union of Medical Territorial Units (TABIB), the group includes four women and two men, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

One of the injured, admitted to intensive care on December 30 in a critically stable condition, was transferred to a ward after the stabilization of clinical and haemodynamic parameters. Diagnosed with fractures of the left shin, right clavicle, and two fingers of the right hand, the patient underwent osteosynthesis surgery to restore the structure of the shin-bones. Their current condition is reported as satisfactory.

Two other patients, admitted in a traumatic coma with head injuries, fractures of varying severity, blunt chest trauma, and hemopneumothorax, remain in intensive care on ventilators. Their condition is described as critical but stable.

The remaining three injured individuals are in a satisfactory condition.

To recap, 38 passengers were killed out of the 67 people on board, while 29 survived when Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8432 crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, on December 25. The crash occurred after a missile strike caused significant mid-flight damage.

Azerbaijani government sources confirmed that a Russian surface-to-air missile, fired during drone activity above Grozny, struck the plane. Shrapnel from the explosion hit passengers and crew members.

Despite pilots' requests for an emergency landing, Russian authorities denied access to nearby airports, directing the damaged aircraft towards Aktau.

During the flight, the plane's GPS navigation systems were reportedly jammed. The missile was fired from a Pantsir-S air defence system, with Russian forces targeting Ukrainian drones over Chechnya at the time. 

By Aghakazim Guliyev