An Azerbaijani A passenger plane with 67 people on board crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday, killing 38 people and leaving 29 survivors, a Kazakh official said.

Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbaev revealed the figures during a meeting with Azerbaijani officials, Russian news agency Interfax reported.

The Embraer 190 was en route from the Azerbaijani capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus when it diverted and attempted an emergency landing 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Aktau, Azerbaijan Airlines said.

Speaking at a news conference, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said it was too early to speculate on the cause of the crash, but said weather had forced the plane to change course from its planned course.

“The information I received is that the plane changed course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed for Aktau airport, where it crashed after landing,” he said.

Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said preliminary information indicated the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike caused an emergency on the plane.

According to Kazakh officials, 42 citizens of Azerbaijan, 16 citizens of Russia, six citizens of Kazakhstan and three citizens of Kyrgyzstan were on board. Azerbaijan’s prosecutor general’s office previously said 32 of the 67 people on board survived the crash, but told reporters that number was not final. The Associated Press could not immediately reconcile the difference between the number of survivors given by Kazakh and Azerbaijani officials.

Get the latest national news

For news that affects Canada and the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you as they happen.

Mobile phone footage circulating online appeared to show the craft descending steeply before hitting the ground in a fireball. Other footage shows part of the fuselage torn from the wing and the rest of the plane lying upside down in the grass. The footage matched the colors of the plane and its registration number.

Some of the videos posted on social media show survivors pulling fellow passengers from the wreckage.

Flight tracking data from FlightRadar24.com showed the aircraft made what appeared to be a figure to the right as it approached Aktau Airport, its altitude moving up and down significantly during the final minutes of the flight before hitting the ground.

FlightRadar24 said in a separate online post that the plane faced “strong GPS jamming,” causing the “aircraft to send poor ADS-B data,” referring to the information that allows flight tracking websites to track aircraft in flight. In the past, Russia has been accused of jamming GPS transmissions in the wider region.

Azerbaijan Airlines said it would keep the public informed and changed its social media banners to solid black. It also said it would suspend flights between Baku and Grozny, as well as between Baku and the city of Makhachkala in Russia’s North Caucasus, until an investigation into the crash is completed.

Azerbaijan’s state news agency Azertac said an official delegation from Azerbaijan’s emergency minister, deputy prosecutor general and vice president of Azerbaijan Airlines was sent to Aktau to conduct an “on-the-spot investigation.”

Aliyev, who had been traveling to Russia, returned to Azerbaijan after hearing the news of the accident, the presidential press service said. He was due to attend an informal meeting of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a bloc of former Soviet countries formed after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in St. Petersburg.

In a statement on social networks, Aliyev expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. “With deep sadness, I express my condolences to the families of the victims and wish the injured a speedy recovery,” he wrote.

He also signed a decree declaring December 26 a day of mourning in Azerbaijan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone with Aliyev and expressed his condolences, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Speaking at a meeting of the CIS in St. Petersburg, Putin also said that the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations had sent a plane with equipment and medical workers to Kazakhstan to help clean up the aftermath of the crash.

Kazakh, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities said they were investigating the crash. In a statement to The Associated Press, Embraer said the company is “ready to assist all relevant authorities.”

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Aida Sultanova in London contributed to this report.

© 2024 The Canadian Press