The Embraer 190 was traveling to Grozny, Russia, but crashed near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing 38 people onboard. Investigators are focusing on Russian air defense as the likely cause.

Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 caught fire as it tried to make an emergency landing in Aktau, southwestern Kazakhstan, on Wednesday. It was traveling from the Azeri capital Baku to Grozny, the capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya.

The crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan has killed 38 of 67 people on board. Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijani capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons that aren’t fully clear yet.

Rashad Nabiyev, Ministry of Digital Development and Transportation of Azerbaijan, said that eyewitness accounts and holes in the fuselage of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan indicate external influence,

U.S. officials say Russia could be behind a passenger plane crash in Kazakhstan that left at least 38 dead Wednesday, but Russia is denying any involvement.

An Azerbaijan Airlines statement on Dec. 27 blamed “interference” for the Christmas Day plane crash that killed 38 people.

Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia all opened investigations into the cause of the crash of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243.

Survivors from the Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan describe their experience moments before the plane plunged to the ground and erupted in flames. The injured passengers and crew,