An Afghan passenger plane carrying 43 people, including foreigners, crashed in the mountains of northern Afghanistan in bad weather on Monday, government officials said.
It was not immediately clear whether there were any survivors. The Pamir Airways plane had been en route from the northern province of Kunduz to Kabul when it came down over the Hindu Kush mountains. The government said the aircraft lost radio contact about 30 km from the capital. It was carrying 38 passengers and five crew, said interior ministry spo-kesman Zemarai Bashary. Six passengers were foreigners. “I can confirm that a Pamir Airways plane has crashed over the Salang mountains with 38 passengers and five crew members on board,” Mr Bashary said.
The Antonov 24, which is a Soviet-made turboprop plane, crashed because of bad weather, said Yalda Natiq, director of communications at the Afghan transport ministry.
According to a passenger list obtained by AFP from the Pamir Airways office in Kunduz, six foreigners, including a woman, boarded the plane. There were 35 men and three women, according to the name list.
The Afghan authorities said the nationalities of the foreigners were unclear. The US embassy was “investigating” their identities, a spokesman said.
The Afghan government dispatched a team to the mountains to find the wreckage and search for survivors. Nato’s International Security Assistance Force fighting against the Taliban said it was assisting, but that poor weather made the search difficult.
“A manned ISAF fixed-wing aircraft has been dispatched to the last known position of the missing plane. However, the poor weather conditions in the area are hampering the aerial search,” the military said.
“Two ISAF helicopters are en route to the area. Other ISAF helicopters are also on standby... to assist in any re-scue effort,” it said.