Astana, Kazakhstan
CNN
—

Dozens are feared dead when a passenger plane carrying 67 people from Azerbaijan to southern Russia crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday, local authorities said.

At least 28 people survived, authorities said, noting that at least two were children. All 28 were taken to hospital, it said.

Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243, which flew from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to Grozny in Russia’s Chechnya region, landed about three kilometers (1.8 miles) from Aktau, the airline said.

Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said its teams found the plane in flames upon arrival at the scene of the accident and rescue workers extinguished the fire upon arrival.

A video of the crash showed the plane circling erratically around the airfield before crashing. When the plane hit the ground, it burst into flames and soon after, bloodied passengers emerged from the rubble.

Russia’s aviation regulator said in a statement that preliminary information suggests the pilot decided to make an emergency landing after being struck by a bird.

There were 62 passengers and five crew members on board, the Kazakh Transport Ministry said in a preliminary report. According to preliminary information, 37 of the passengers are citizens of Azerbaijan, six of Kazakhstan, three of Kyrgyzstan and 16 of Russia.

“Additional information regarding the incident will be made available to the public,” the airline said on its Facebook page.

The Kazakh government has set up a commission to investigate the cause of the crash.

“The commission has been instructed to immediately fly to the scene of the accident, ensure a comprehensive investigation into the causes of the accident and take measures to provide priority assistance to the families of the dead and injured,” a government statement said.

Kazakhstan will cooperate with Azerbaijan in the investigation, it said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

CNN’s Svitlana Vlasova, Victoria Butenko, Lucas Lilieholm and Edward Szekeres contributed reporting.