External intervention caused plane crash, says Azerbaijan Airlines

MOSCOW: Azerbaijan Airlines said on Friday that preliminary results showed that one of its planes which crashed in Kazakhstan on Wednesday experienced "external physical and technical interference". The airline also announced the temporary suspension of 10 flights.

The aircraft, which took off from Baku, Azerbaijan, heading to Grozny, crashed near Aktau Airport in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Kazakh authorities reported that out of the 67 people on board, 38 lost their lives in the accident, while 29, including two children, were rescued from the wreckage.

Kazakh media reported that the passengers included 37 citizens from Azerbaijan, 16 from Russia, six from Kazakhstan, and three from Kyrgyzstan. The announcement from Azerbaijan Airlines that external interference caused the crash came a day after the second black box was recovered from the crash site.

Earlier, some foreign media outlets had reported that the plane may have been accidentally shot down by a Russian missile. This came after investigators discovered punctures on the plane's exterior and marks on its tail section, resembling missile fragments. However, Russia has refuted these reports.