An Azerbaijani airliner has crashed in Kazakhstan after being diverted, killing 38 of 67 people on board. Some experts alleged that the plane went down after being hit by Russian air defense systems. Some things to know about the crash and the speculation about a possible cause:

Russia's civil aviation authority ... "It would be wrong to make hypotheses before investigators make their verdict." Kazakhstan's parliamentary Speaker Maulen Ashimbayev also warned against rushing to conclusions based on pictures of the plane's fragments ...

Details: Kovalenko said that Russia was obligated to close the airspace over Grozny but failed to do so. Quote: "The plane was damaged by Russians and sent to Kazakhstan instead of being urgently landed in Grozny to save lives." On Wednesday, 26 December ...

Kazakh authorities have recovered the flight data recorder and an investigation is under way. Shortly after the crash, reports from Russian state-controlled TV said the most likely cause was a strike from a flock of birds.

Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 had flown hundreds of miles off its scheduled route from Azerbaijan to Russia to crash on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan. A Kazakh official said 38 people had been killed,

The Azerbaijan Airlines flight from Baku to Grozny in Russia was carrying 67 people when it crashed near Aktau early Wednesday. Kazakh officials said 29 people survived.

Russia’s state aviation authority said the Azerbaijan Airlines plane had been trying to make an emergency landing. The Kazakh authorities said that at least 29 people survived.

Russia is moving forward on its strategic plan to secure a fourth export route for natural gas supplies to China that it has been discussing for months with authorities in Kazakhstan. The proposed pipeline will cross the northern and northeastern regions ...

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at a news conference that it was too soon to speculate on the reasons behind the crash, pointing to bad weather as the reason the plane diverted from its original course. "This is a great tragedy that has become a tremendous sorrow for the Azerbaijani people," he said.

According to Kazakhstan's Transport Ministry, the plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines had 37 Azerbaijani passengers, 16 Russians, six Kazakhs, and three Kyrgyz, along with five crew members on board.

Footage shows the moment an Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashes in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Sources say it was downed by the Russian air defence system. Video credit: Social media