Azerbaijan Airlines announced on Friday that preliminary investigations suggest their Embraer 190 passenger aircraft, which crashed near Aktau in western Kazakhstan on Wednesday, experienced "external physical and technical interference."

The incident resulted in the death of 38 passengers, while the remaining 29 were rescued and taken to hospitals in Kazakhstan for treatment.

Earlier, Anadolu Agency, citing unnamed Azerbaijani officials, reported that the aircraft may have been struck by a Russian air defense system. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) demanded a probe into the happening.