An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger jet crashed in western Kazakhstan on Wednesday, killing at least 39 people and leaving 28 survivors, authorities confirmed. The Embraer 190, which was en route from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Grozny, Russia, deviated from its scheduled flight path before going down near the city of Aktau, an oil and gas hub on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea.

The crash occurred approximately three kilometers (1.9 miles) from Aktau, according to the Kazakh transport ministry. The plane was carrying a total of 67 people, including 62 passengers and five crew members. The ministry said that of the passengers, 37 were from Azerbaijan, six from Kazakhstan, three from Kyrgyzstan, and 16 from Russia.

Azerbaijan Airlines confirmed the crash and described the incident as an emergency landing. The airline stated that all survivors were being assisted by local authorities.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who was in Russia for an informal summit with leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), shortened his visit following the tragic incident. His office issued a statement confirming that the president had returned to Azerbaijan to oversee the response efforts.

Kazakh emergency services have been deployed to the crash site, and an investigation into the cause of the incident is underway.

The crash has raised concerns over aviation safety in the region, as investigators work to determine why the aircraft veered off course during its flight from the Azerbaijani capital to the Russian city of Grozny.