An Azerbaijan Airlines flight to the southern Russian town of Mineralnie Vody turned back to Baku on Friday after being told a chunk of airspace in southern Russia had been closed, Russia's TASS news agency reported.

NATO spokesman Farah Dahlalla expressed condolences over the crash of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane near the Kazakh city of Aktau and called for a comprehensive investigation.

People were seen mourning on Thursday (December 26) at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Azerbaijan's capital Baku, which was a departure point of the AZAL flight that crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people.

The citizens injured in the accident were accompanied on the plane by a special medical team,' says Azerbaijan's Emergency Situations Ministry - Anadolu Ajansı

The number of people hospitalized after the crash of the Baku —Grozny plane in Aktau has increased to 27, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan reported.

An Azerbaijan Airlines flight travelling from Baku to Grozny has crashed in Kazakhstan with nearly 70 passengers onboard. Several survivors are in a critical condition. Source: Radio Liberty's Kazakhstan service;

Azerbaijan is observing a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of the air crash that killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured as speculation mounted about a possible cause of the crash that remained unknown.

Russia is warning against promoting what it calls hypotheses about what caused the crash of an Azerbaijani airline.

Plane carrying survivors of the Azerbaijan plane crash lands in Baku. The crash killed 38 people and left all 29 survivors injured. Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan's capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny.