ISTANBUL

Injured passengers from the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) plane that crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau have arrived in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku for treatment, authorities said Thursday.

Azerbaijan’s Emergency Situations Ministry said that seven citizens who were injured in the crash arrived at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport via an initial plane on the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev.

“The citizens injured in the accident were accompanied on the plane by a special medical team,” it said in a statement.

According to local media reports, including state news agency, Azertac, a second plane carrying seven more of injured and the bodies of four Azerbaijani citizens who were killed in the crash also arrived in Baku.

An AZAL flight traveling Wednesday from Baku to the city of Grozny in the Russian Republic of Chechnya crashed 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the Kazakh city of Aktau, located on the Caspian Sea coast, flight with 67 people on board, including 37 Azerbaijani citizens.

Injured passengers from the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau arrived in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku for treatment https://t.co/WC49GIaLru pic.twitter.com/f5ZRFj3c6m

— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) December 26, 2024

According to Kazakh officials, 38 people were killed in the crash of the Embraer 190 aircraft, while 29 survived, as Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan have launched investigations into the incident.

Azerbaijan Airlines and Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency said preliminary findings pointed to a collision with birds as the cause of the crash.

Footage from the crash site shows, however, large holes in the tail of the plane, sparking speculation that it may have been brought down by an attack.

Earlier Thursday, senior Azerbaijani officials confirmed to Anadolu the validity of media reports suggesting that the plane crash was caused by a Russian missile system.