A passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to Russia’s Grozny region has crashed near the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan with 67 people on board, prompting a suspension of flights as authorities investigate the cause of the tragedy.

Deputy Prime Minister Qanat Bozymbaev said that 38 people died aboard the Azerbaijan Airlines flight on December 25 and that 29 survivors suffered moderate to severe injuries, many with severe burns, and that they were receiving medical attention.

Kazakhstan’s health ministry said at least two children were among the injured and 11 people were in intensive care.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known amid unconfirmed reports of heavy fog or a possible bird strike. The Azerbaijani and Kazakh authorities have launched investigations.

Azerbaijan Airlines stated that all flights from Baku to the Chechnya region would be suspended pending an investigation into the tragedy

In a dramatic account of the incident, Elmira, a witness at the scene, told RFE/RL that she was sitting on a company bus near Aktau with other work colleagues when they saw a plane catching fire overhead and tried to to help the victims crash.

“We rushed towards the scene and pulled people out of the rear section, which had separated,” she said.

“The nose of the plane was on fire. We rescued the living from the stern – they were badly injured and crying.”

She said a young girl screamed, “Save my mother! My mother is here!” Others also asked for help, she added.

“Ambulances arrived shortly afterwards and we handed over the injured… I am now in shock and can’t get these scenes out of my head.”

At Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku, the families of the passengers of flight J2-8243 gathered in a designated area and eagerly awaited news about the fate of their loved ones.

Vugar Ismayilov, whose friend Habib Ismayilov was aboard the plane, told RFE/RL that he had not yet received any news about Habib.

Ismayilov said Habib, a 25-year-old local from the Aghdash region of central Azerbaijan, was reluctant to take part in the trip, which would take him to Daghestan via Grozny.

“I dropped my friend off at the airport this morning. He wanted to go to Dagestan for work and it was the first time he traveled to Dagestan,” Ismayilov said. “He didn’t really want to go on this trip. He went there for work.”

Nezaket Bayramova, whose sister Jamila Bisloyeva was among the passengers on the ill-fated plane, told the Turan Information Agency that she had no information about her siblings’ situation.

“We called the hotline that was set up (for relatives), they took our information and said they would inform us. But there is still no news,” Bayramova said.

“I don’t know anything. From what I heard, a bird hit the plane. I don’t know anything else,” she said.

There was a heavy police presence at Baku airport, and ambulances and emergency services could also be seen nearby.

Kazakhstan’s Emergencies Ministry said in a statement that rescue workers were at the scene of the accident and that firefighters had extinguished a fire there.

Videos from the crash site showed the plane lying upside down on the ground with part of the fuselage torn away from the wings and the rest of the plane.

Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 plane, flight number J2-8243, was flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, but was forced to make an emergency landing about three kilometers from Aktau.

The airline said it would keep the public informed and changed its social media banners to solid black.

A spokesman for Russia’s Federal Aviation Agency said preliminary information showed the pilot decided to divert to Aktau after a bird strike on the plane led to “an emergency situation on board.”

According to media reports, the plane was diverted in Grozny due to fog.

Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev has set up a special commission headed by Deputy Prime Minister Bozymbaev to investigate the incident.

Toqaev also ordered authorities to send a group of medics from the capital Astana to Aktau to help treat survivors.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has cut short his visit to an informal Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit in Russia and returned to Baku, his office said.

On Aliyev’s instructions, representatives of the Azerbaijani government traveled to Aktau, the Azerbaijan Press Agency reported.

The delegation includes, among others, the Ministers of Digital Aviation, Transport and Emergency Situations, the Deputy Minister of Health, the Deputy Attorney General and the Deputy Director of the State Civil Aviation Authority, the news agency added.

Officials said the crew members were all Azerbaijani citizens.

Including the crew, there were 42 citizens of Azerbaijan on board, six from Kazakhstan, three from Kyrgyzstan and 16 Russian nationals, officials said.