Thursday is an official day of mourning in Azerbaijan as an investigation is underway to determine what caused an airplane carrying 67 passengers to crash on Christmas Day in Kazakhstan, killing 38 and leaving at least 29 survivors.
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Video posted by CNN shows the plane crash-landing, exploding into a fireball and plumes of black smoke.
Here’s what to know about the devastating accident and the latest on the possible causes.
The victims
Passengers on the Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer operated flight 190 included 37 Azerbaijani nationals, 16 Russians, six Kazakh citizens and three Kyrgyz nationals, according to the New York Times. The flight was heading from Azerbaijani capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny when the crash occurred. The plane crashed while trying to make an emergency landing at the Aktau airport in Kazakhstan.
Among the 29 survivors were two children.
Footage of the rubble published by the Russian state news outlet Ria Novosti shows some passengers lying on the ground and others being able to walk away from the debris.
Some mobile phone footage shows passengers pulling each other out of the wreckage.
The cause of the crash
The exact cause of the crash was not immediately known.
Russia’s aviation authority initially theorized that a collision with a flock of birds could have played a part in the crash. There were also other reports that the plane may have encountered significant fog, and that the flight had changed course midway due to worsening weather conditions but it’s still unclear if this was a major factor in the crash, according to the AP.
“The information provided to me is that the plane changed its course between Baku and Grozny due to worsening weather conditions and headed to Aktau airport, where it crashed upon landing,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that investigators are looking into whether the plane was shot down accidentally by Russian air defense systems, based on interviews with four unnamed sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan’s investigation into the crash. Nearly three years into the Russia-Ukraine war, Russian air defense systems are regularly triggered by Ukrainian military drones aiming for targets in southern Russia. Russian authorities are not confirming that, but Russian President Vladimir Putin dispatched emergency resources to the crash site.
A spokesman for Putin, Dmitry Peskov, said Thursday that “it would be incorrect to make any hypotheses before the investigation comes to conclusions,” adding that “no one should do it.”
Azerbaijan suspended flights between Baku and Grozney until investigators can determine the official cause of the crash.
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