Azernews.Az

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is reportedly presumed to have died in a plane crash, according to Reuters, citing two sources within Syria, Azernews reports.

While there is speculation that the plane's transponder may have been turned off, leading to its disappearance from radar, one of the sources suggested that the plane could have been shot down.

The aircraft, an Il-76 with registration number YK-ATA, was believed to have been traveling from Damascus when it made an unexpected turn. Initially headed towards the Iraqi border, the plane veered northeast, over Syria's Mediterranean coast where loyalist Alawites and Russian military bases are located. It then made a sharp turn back in the opposite direction before disappearing from radar near the rebel-held city of Homs.

Flight data from FlightRadar shows that the plane's altitude and speed decreased sharply before it vanished, with its last known location near the Syrian Air Force base in Al-Qusayr, an area currently under rebel control. The status of the base remains unclear.