Azerbaijan's president says crashed jetliner was shot down by Russia unintentionally

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said Sunday that the Azerbaijani airliner that crashed last week was shot down by Russia, albeit unintentionally, and criticized Moscow for trying to “hush up” the issue for days.

"We can say with complete clarity that the plane was shot down by Russia. (...) We are not saying that it was done intentionally, but it was done,” he told Azerbaijani state television.

Aliyev said that the airliner, which crashed Wednesday in Kazakhstan, was hit by fire from the ground over Russia and “rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare." Aliyev accused Russia of trying to “hush up” the issue for several days, saying he was “upset and surprised” by versions of events put forward by Russian officials.

“Unfortunately, for the first three days we heard nothing from Russia except delirious versions,” he said.

The crash killed 38 of 67 people on board. The Kremlin said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya, where the plane attempted to land, to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike.

Aliyev said Azerbaijan made three demands to Russia in connection with the crash.

“First, the Russian side must apologize to Azerbaijan. Second, it must admit its guilt. Third, punish the guilty, bring them to criminal responsibility and pay compensation to the Azerbaijani state, the injured passengers and crew members,” he said.

Aliyev noted that the first demand was “already fulfilled” when Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to him on Saturday. Putin called the crash a “tragic incident" though stopped short of acknowledging Moscow’s responsibility.

He said that an investigation into the crash was ongoing, and that “the final version (of events) will be known after the black boxes are opened.”

He noted that Azerbaijan was always “in favor of a group of international experts” investigating the crash, and had “categorically refused” Russia’s suggestion that the Interstate Aviation Committee, which oversees civil aviation in the Commonwealth of Independent States, investigate it.

“It is no secret that this organization consists mostly of Russian officials and is headed by Russian citizens. The factors of objectivity could not be fully ensured here,” Aliyev said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media on Sunday that Putin had spoken to Aliyev over the phone again, but did not provide details of the conversation.

The Kremlin also said a joint investigation by Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan was underway at the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. The plane was flying from Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to Grozny when it turned toward Kazakhstan, hundreds of kilometers (miles) across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination, and crashed while making an attempt to land.

Passengers and crew who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media that they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it was circling over Grozny.

Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting the city, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic.

The crash is the second deadly civil aviation accident linked to fighting in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed with a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people aboard, as it flew over the area in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014.

Russia has denied responsibility, but a Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russia Ukrainian man for their role in downing the plane with an air defense system brought into Ukraine from a Russian military base.

Associated Press writer Aida Sultanova in London contributed to this report.

People stand at the grave of pilot in command Igor Kshnyakin during a funeral of the crew members of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 killed in a deadly plane crash in Kazakhstan this week, at the II Alley of Honor in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP photo)

People mourn at the grave of flight attendant Hokume Aliyeva during a funeral of the crew members of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 killed in a deadly plane crash in Kazakhstan this week, at the II Alley of Honor in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP photo)

Yana Kshnyakina, widow of pilot in command Igor Kshnyakin mourns at the coffin during a funeral of crew members of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 killed in a deadly plane crash in Kazakhstan this week, at the II Alley of Honor in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP photo)

Pilots carry a coffin during a funeral of the crew members of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 killed in a deadly plane crash in Kazakhstan this week, at the II Alley of Honor in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP photo)

People stand at the grave of pilot in command Igor Kshnyakin during a funeral of the crew members of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190, killed in a deadly plane crash in Kazakhstan this week, at the II Alley of Honor in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP photo)

People mourn at the grave of First Officer Aleksandr Kalyaninov during a funeral of the crew members of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 killed in a deadly plane crash in Kazakhstan this week, at the II Alley of Honor in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP photo)

People mourn at the grave of flight attendant Hokume Aliyeva during a funeral of the crew members of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 killed in a deadly plane crash in Kazakhstan this week, at the II Alley of Honor in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP photo)

Yana Kshnyakina, widow of pilot in command Igor Kshnyakin mourns during a funeral of crew members of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 killed in a deadly plane crash in Kazakhstan this week, at the II Alley of Honor in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP photo)

People mourn during a funeral of the crew members of the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 killed in a deadly plane crash in Kazakhstan this week, at the II Alley of Honor in Baku, Azerbaijan, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (AP photo)

This image from video released by the administration of the Mangystau region of Kazakhstan, shows the wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (Administration of the Mangystau Region via AP)

Workers carry a coffin with a body of a victim from a plane after the Azerbaijani Airlines crashed, near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, upon their arrival at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport outside Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)

An Azerbaijan national flag, flowers and candles are seen at the wall of the apartment building in memory of a pilot Alexander Kalyanina, one of victims who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau, in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. (AP Photo)

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev attend a meeting with railway industry veterans and workers to mark the 50th anniversary of the Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) construction at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, April 22, 2024. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A driver rammed a pickup truck into a crowd of New Orleans revelers early on New Year’s Day, killing 10 people and injuring more than 30 in what the FBI is investigating as an act of terrorism.

The driver was killed in a firefight with police following the attack around 3:15 a.m. Wednesday along Bourbon Street in the city’s bustling French Quarter, the FBI said.

Investigators were combing the French Quarter for potential explosive devices, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press. The official was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Alethea Duncan said officials were investigating at least one suspected improvised explosive device at the scene.

At a news conference, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell described the killings as a “terrorist attack” and the city’s police chief said the act was clearly intentional.

New Orleans Police Commissioner Anne Kirkpatrick said the driver was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and the damage that he did.”

“It was very intentional behavior. This man was trying to run over as many people as he could,” Kirkpatrick said.

After the vehicle stopped, the driver emerged and opened fire on responding officers, police said. Officers returned fire, killing the driver, police said.

Two officers were wounded and are in stable condition, police said. They were in addition to 33 people injured in the actual attack.

The area is known as one of the largest New Year’s Eve destinations.

Crowds in the city were ballooning in anticipation of Wednesday night’s Sugar Bowl college football playoff game between Georgia and Notre Dame at the nearby Superdome. The stadium was on lockdown Wednesday morning, but the game was expected to go on as scheduled.

Hours after the attack, three coroner’s office vans were parked on the corner of Bourbon and Canal streets, cordoned off by police tape with crowds of dazed tourists standing around.

Kevin Garcia, 22, told CNN that he saw a truck slamming into people on a sidewalk and heard gunshots.

“A body came flying at me,” he said.

Whit Davis told the network that he heard people yelling and running to the back as he was leaving a nightclub.

“When they finally let us out of the club, police waved us where to walk and were telling us to get out of the area fast. I saw a few dead bodies they couldn’t even cover up and tons of people receiving first aid," said Davis, 22.

The injured were taken to five hospitals, the city’s emergency preparedness department said.

The White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed, and the Justice Department said Attorney General Merrick Garland was also briefed.

The attack is the latest example of a vehicle being used as a weapon to carry out mass violence, a trend that has alarmed law enforcement officials and that can be difficult to protect against.

A 50-year-old Saudi doctor plowed into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers in the German city of Magdeburg last month, killing four women and a 9-year-old boy. A man who drove his SUV through a Christmas parade in suburban Milwaukee in 2021 is serving a life sentence after a judge rejected arguments from him and his family that mental illness drove him to do it. Six people were killed.

An Islamic extremist was sentenced last year to 10 life sentences for killing eight people with a truck on a bike path in Manhattan on Halloween in 2017. Also in 2017, a self-proclaimed admirer of Adolf Hitler slammed his car into counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia and is now serving a life sentence.

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Stephen Smith, Kevin McGill and Chevel Johnson in New Orleans and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.

A coroner's van is parked on the corner of Bourbon St. and Canal St, after a vehicle raced into a crowd of revelers early on New Year's Day, in New Orleans on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

A mounted police officer arrives on Canal Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd earlier in New Orleans, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Kevin McGill)

Emergency services attend the scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A police barricade near the scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A cyclist passes a police barricade near the scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Security personnel investigate the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A member of the emergency services walks past a police barricade after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A member of the emergency services attends the scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

The scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Superintendent of Police for the New Orleans Police Department Anne Kirkpatrick makes a statement after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene on Bourbon Street after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

New Orleans mayor LaToya Cantrell makes a statement after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Emergency services attend the scene after a vehicle drove into a crowd on New Orleans' Canal and Bourbon Street, Wednesday Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)