UPDATES WITH LATEST STATEMENTS BY AZERBAIJANI, KAZAKH OFFICIALS; REVISES HEAD, DECK, LEDE; EDITS THROUGHOUT
By Elena Teslova and Burc Eruygur
MOSCOW / ISTANBUL (AA) — At least 38 people were killed as an Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) flight traveling from the country's capital Baku to Russia crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday.
Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said during a news conference in Aktau that 38 people were killed in the crash, while 29 others were rescued.
According to a statement by AZAL on Telegram, 62 passengers and five crew members were on board the aircraft, which crashed about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Aktau, as it was heading from Baku to the city of Grozny in the Russian Republic of Chechnya.
The carrier later suspended flights between Baku and Grozny, as well as those between Baku and the city of Makhachkala, the administrative center of the neighboring Dagestan region.
Kazakhstan's Emergency Situations Ministry said in a statement following the crash that 52 of its personnel and 11 units of equipment were dispatched to the crash site, where the plane had been ablaze.
It later reported that 150 personnel and 45 units of equipment from Kazakhstan's emergency services were involved in search and rescue efforts.
Azerbaijan's Prosecutor General's Office spokesperson Kanan Zeynalov previously said in a news briefing in Baku that there were 32 survivors.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who cut short a visit to the Russian city of St. Petersburg, announced in a meeting with government officials that a commission was formed to investigate the reasons behind the plane crash.
Aliyev went on to issue a decree determining Dec. 26 as a day of mourning across the country.
Meanwhile, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also ordered an investigation into the crash, led by Bozumbayev, and dispatched medical teams from Astana to assist survivors.
According to the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency, preliminary findings said a collision with birds was the cause of the crash.
Russian media claimed that the plane was unable to land in Grozny due to a Ukrainian drone attack. The pilot redirected the flight to the city of Makhachkala but was deterred by fog, ultimately requesting to land in Aktau.