Official: Azerbaijani passenger plane crashes, all 23 aboard believed killed
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-24 09:23

Official: Azerbaijani passenger plane crashes, all 23 aboard believed killed

An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane with 23 people aboard crashed along the Caspian Sea shore and all aboard were believed killed, a police official said early Saturday.

The plane's wreckage was found along the shore, said the police duty officer in the Sabunchi region north of the capital, Baku. He declined to give his name because he was not authorized to act as a spokesman.

The plane disappeared from radar shortly after takeoff late Friday from Baku en route to the Kazakh city of Aktau on the other side of the Caspian Sea, two airport employees told The Associated Press. Both said there were 18 passengers aboard and one said there were an additional five crew members.

The plane was identified as an An-140, a twin-engine turboprop.

Baku and Aktau are centers of the thriving Caspian Sea oil industry, which has attracted substantial foreign investment.