Astana, Kazakhstan: Azerbaijan’s heart aches as it faces the aftermath of a devastating plane crash that claimed 38 lives on Christmas Day. The Embraer 190 aircraft, carrying 67 people (62 passengers and five crew members), was en route from Baku to Grozny when it tragically veered off course and crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

The wreckage, scattered in the cold desert landscape, marks the final resting place of lives cut too short. Survivors, including young children, were left shaken and bloodied, their cries for help echoing in the aftermath of the tragedy.

As the nation reels from the loss, a two-day mourning period has been declared, and President Ilham Aliyev has ordered an immediate investigation into the cause of the crash. The pain of this tragedy is felt deeply across Azerbaijan, where the lives of those aboard -- fathers, mothers, children, and friends -- are now forever remembered. In this moment of sorrow, the world watches as the grieving nation searches for answers, while offering condolences to the families whose lives were changed forever in an instant.

The country began a national day of mourning Thursday after teh tragedy. The  aircraft was supposed to fly northwest from the Azerbaijani capital Baku to the city of Grozny in Chechnya in southern Russia, but instead diverted far off course across the Caspian Sea. It crashed Wednesday near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan.

Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Kanat Bozumbayev told Russia's Interfax news agency that 38 people had been killed, while the Kazakh emergency situations ministry reported "29 survivors, including three children, have been hospitalised".

Azerbaijan state news agency AZERTAC reported the aircraft's black box, which records the flight data, has been recovered. The Kazakh transport ministry said the plane was carrying 37 nationals from Azerbaijan, six from Kazakhstan, three from Kyrgyzstan and 16 from Russia. Azerbaijan Airlines, the country's flag carrier, said the plane "made an emergency landing" around three kilometres (1.9 miles) from Aktau.

The Kazakh emergency situations ministry said its staff put out a fire which broke out when the plane crashed. It said 150 emergency workers were at the scene. Kazakhstan said it had opened an investigation into the cause of the crash, which was not immediately clear.

Azerbaijan Airlines initially said the plane flew through a flock of birds before withdrawing the statement. "We cannot disclose any investigation results at this time," the office of Azerbaijan's prosecutor general said in a statement. "All possible scenarios are being examined, and the necessary expert analyses are underway," it added. It said an investigative team led by the deputy prosecutor general of Azerbaijan has been dispatched to Kazakhstan and is working at the crash site.

A Kazakh woman told the local branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) that she was near where the plane crashed and rushed to the site to help survivors. "They were covered in blood. They were crying. They were calling for help," said the woman, who gave her name as Elmira. She said they saved some teenagers. "I'll never forget their look, full of pain and despair," said Elmira. "A girl pleaded: 'Save my mother, my mother is back there'."

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation with Aliyev and "expressed his condolences in connection with the crash", his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news conference.

Azerbaijan's first lady Mehriban Aliyeva, who is also the country's first vice president, said she was "deeply saddened by the news of the tragic loss of lives in the plane crash near Aktau". "I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims. Wishing them strength and patience! I also wish a speedy recovery to the injured," she said on Instagram.

With agency inputs