Environmentalists took soil samples at plane crash site in Aktau

Tengrinews.kz - Environmental specialists conducted work at the crash site of an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane in Aktau, collecting soil samples, according to InAktau.kz.

The report refers to representatives of the relevant agency in the Mangystau region.

"To identify environmental pollution at the crash site of the Embraer 190 aircraft, specialists from the Laboratory and Analytical Control Department of the Mangystau Region Ecology Department took soil samples," the publication states.

This was necessary for the investigation, the article explains.

The results will be announced later, the state agency assured.

As a reminder, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport reported that the plane's black boxes were returned to Kazakhstan from Brazil and handed over to the commission for conclusions about the Aktau crash. The data from the flight recorders, which arrived in Kazakhstan, are also being analyzed by experts.

Baku-Grozny plane crash near Aktau: What happened?

Azerbaijan Airlines plane, flying from Baku (Azerbaijan) to Grozny (Russia), crashed three kilometers from Aktau at 11:30 A.M. local time on December 25. The passenger flight was unable to land in Grozny due to heavy fog, first, it was redirected to Makhachkala, and then to Aktau.

The official cause of the incident is still unknown. The media are spreading various theories, including a bird getting into the plane's engine, as well as an oxygen tank exploding in the cabin. The black box was found in the evening of the same day, now experts will have to decipher its data.