ANKARA, Dec 27 — Azerbaijan has requested an expert group from Turkiye to investigate the plane crash near Kazakhstan’s Aktau. The group has already departed for the site of the incident, Turkiye’s Sabah newspaper reported on Friday, citing sources, according to Sputnik/RIA Novosti.

Turkish civil aviation experts are expected to investigate the accident together with their Kazakh colleagues, the newspaper said. The Turkish specialists will cooperate with Azerbaijani authorities and provide them with relevant findings.

An Azerbaijan Airlines plane flying from Baku to Grozny crashed on the morning of December 25 near the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan. According to Russia’s Federal Agency for Air Transport (Rosaviatsiya), after the plane collided with birds, the captain decided to head for an alternate airfield in Aktau.

The airline said there were 62 passengers and five crew members on board. According to the Kazakh Emergencies Ministry, 29 people survived the crash. — Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti