Astana (Web Desk/Agencies): Azerbaijan is observing a national day of mourning after a devastating plane crash on Christmas Day in western Kazakhstan.
The Embraer 190, operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, was en route from Baku to Grozny in Russia when it veered off course and crashed near Aktau, a city located on the Caspian Sea.
The plane was carrying 67 people, including 62 passengers and five crew members, and tragically, 38 people were confirmed dead.
Among the survivors, 29 people, including three children, were hospitalized with injuries.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev expressed his sorrow over the tragedy, canceling a planned trip to Russia for a summit and declaring Thursday a day of mourning.
He also ordered an immediate investigation into the cause of the crash. Authorities reported that the flight had deviated from its intended path and circled over the sea before crashing.
While initial reports mentioned a possible bird strike, this was later retracted. Kazakhstan's emergency services responded swiftly, deploying hundreds of workers to the site to extinguish the flames from the crash.
The passengers on board included people from various countries: 37 Azerbaijanis, six Kazakhs, three Kyrgyz, and 16 Russians.
An investigative team from Azerbaijan has been sent to the crash site in Kazakhstan, where the black box of the aircraft has been recovered.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation, and no definitive conclusions have been drawn yet. To support the survivors, a medical team was dispatched from Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, to treat those injured in the incident.
