BAKU — Two passengers and one crew member on the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan told Reuters that they heard at least one loud bang as it approached its original destination of Grozny in southern Russia.

Flight J2-8243 crashed on Wednesday (Dec 25) in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from an area of southern Russia where Moscow has repeatedly used air defence systems against Ukrainian attack drones. At least 38 people were killed while 29 survived.

"After the bang...I thought the plane was going to fall apart," Subhonkul Rakhimov, one of the passengers, told Reuters from hospital.

He said he had begun to recite prayers and prepare for the end after hearing the bang.

"It was obvious that the plane had been damaged in some way," he said. "It was as if it was drunk — not the same plane anymore."

Another passenger on the plane told Reuters that she also heard a loud bang.

"I was very scared," said Vafa Shabanova, adding that there was also a second bang.

She was then told by a flight attendant to move to the back of the plane.

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