“Based on the opinion of experts and on the words of eyewitnesses, it can be concluded that there was external interference,” Azerbaijani’s transport minister, Rashad Nabiyev, told reporters.
“It is necessary to find out from what kind of weapon,” he added, citing reports from survivors of hearing “three explosions” as the plane was over Grozny.
Azerbaijan Airlines said it had suspended flights to 10 Russian airports and that preliminary results suggested the crash of Baku-Grozny flight J2-8243 was “due to physical and technical external interference”.
The head of Russia’s civil aviation agency, Dmitry Yadrov, said in an earlier statement that “the situation on this day and at these hours in the area of Grozny airport was very complex”.