Toll hits 38 in Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash near Kazakhstan's Aktau

The death toll has risen to 38 after an Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane crashed near Kazakhstan's Aktau city on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported.

The plane, which had 62 passengers and five crew members on board, crashed after being forced to make an emergency landing about three kilometres from Aktau. "The situation is not very good, 38 dead," Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said as quoted by Russia's Interfax news agency, Al Jazeera reported.

The Embraer 190 aircraft was en route from Azerbaijan's capital Baku to Grozny, a Russian city in the North Caucasus.

Azerbaijan's prosecutor general's office earlier said that 32 out of the 67 people on board survived the crash. "We cannot disclose any investigation results at this time. All possible scenarios are being examined, and the necessary expert analyses are underway," it said in a statement, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Azerbaijan Airlines announced it would suspend all flights from Baku to Russia's Chechnya region until the investigation is concluded, Al Jazeera reported, quoting Russian state news agency TASS.

Russia's aviation watchdog said in a statement that preliminary information suggested the pilots decided to make an emergency landing after a bird strike. Aktau is located on the opposite shore of the Caspian Sea from Azerbaijan and Russia.

Preliminary reports show that the plane requested to land at an alternative airport before the accident due to heavy fog in Grozny. Passengers included citizens from Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Al Jazeera reported.

The airline has set up a hotline for family members of the passengers. Authorities in Kazakhstan said a government commission will investigate the crash and its members have been ordered to fly to the site and ensure that the families of the dead and injured were getting the help they needed.