Crash over Kazakhstan caused by "external interference"

As speculation mounts as to whether Russia was involved in the downing of an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane, the carrier has said the crash was caused by "physical and technical external interference".

A passenger on the flight that crashed in Kazakhstan told Reuters that there was at least one loud bang as it approached its original destination of Grozny in southern Russia.

Flight J2-8243 crashed on Wednesday in a ball of fire near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after diverting from an area of southern Russia where Moscow has repeatedly used air defence systems against Ukrainian drones.

"I thought the plane was going to fall apart," Subhonkul Rakhimov, one of the passengers, told Reuters from hospital, adding that he had begun to recite prayers and prepare for the end after hearing the bang.

At least 38 people were killed while 29 people survived.

Moscow has said it's important to wait for the official investigation to finish its work to understand what happened.

"An investigation into this aircraft incident is under way. And until the conclusions of the investigation are available, we do not consider ourselves authorised to make any judgements - and will not do so," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Such results could only come from the Russian aviation authorities investigating the case, he said. Meanwhile, Kazakh and Azerbaijani authorities are conducting their own investigations into the cause of the crash.

A top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy blamed Russia for the crash.

Moscow must be held responsible for the "shooting down" of the plane, the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said on Telegram.

Four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan's investigation into the disaster told Reuters on Thursday that Russian air defences had mistakenly shot it down.

Azerbaijan Airlines suspended a host of flights to Russian cities on Friday and said it considered the crash was caused by what it termed "physical and technical external interference".

After the loud bang, the plane had acted strangely as if it was drunk, Rakhimov said.

"It was as if it was drunk - not the same plane anymore," he said.

The Embraer passenger jet had flown from Azerbaijan's capital Baku to Grozny, in Russia's southern Chechnya region, before veering off hundreds of miles across the Caspian Sea.

It crashed on the opposite shore of the Caspian after what Russia's aviation watchdog said was an emergency that may have been caused by a bird strike.

After the turmoil of the crash landing, there was silence before the moaning of the injured began, Rakhimov said.

Rosaviatsia, Russia's aviation watchdog, said that the captain of the plane had been offered other airports at which to land, but had chosen Kazakhstan's Aktau. It said that it would provide comprehensive support to Kazakh and Azerbaijani investigations looking into the crash.

with dpa