Azerbaijan Mourns 38 Killed in Kazakhstan Plane Crash

Experts say it may have been accidentally shot down by Russian air defence systems

ASTANA - Azerbaijan held a national day of mourning on Dec 26 after a passenger jet from Azerbaijan Airlines crashed in western Kazakhstan on Christmas Day, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.

The Embraer 190 aircraft was supposed to fly north-west from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia, but instead was diverted far off course across the Caspian Sea. It crashed on Dec 25 near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

An investigation into the causes of the crash is under way, but some aviation and military experts said the plane may have been accidentally shot down by Russian air defence systems as it was flying in an area where Ukrainian drone activity had been reported.

The flight that crashed was downed by a Russian air defence system, four sources in Azerbaijan with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters.

Officials condemned "speculation" about what happened.

"We need to await the end of the investigation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Kazakh Senate Speaker Maulen Ashimbayev was quoted by Russia's Tass news agency as saying it was "not possible" to say what may have damaged the plane.