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Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed 7 minutes after being spotted near Aktau, report says

Upon impact with the ground, the airplane disintegrated into several parts

ASTANA, February 4. /TASS/. The Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan was spotted from the Aktau airport seven minutes before it went down, according to a preliminary report on the accident from the Kazakh Transport Ministry.

"At approximately 11:21, an airplane was spotted as it was chaotically changing its flight path (sharp ascents/descents)," the report said. "At 11:25, the aircraft disappeared from the field of view from the airport, after which at 11:28 the flight director reported a crash of an aircraft near the village of Saiyn, closer to the sea, at an approximate distance of three miles from the airfield."

Upon impact with the ground, the airplane disintegrated into several parts, according to the report. Firefighters and rescuers reached the crash site seven minutes later. They found civilians evacuating the passengers from the tail part of the aircraft. The front portion of the plane lay ablaze about 300-350 meters from the tail.