Russian plane crashes in northeastern Afghanistan mountains
The plane is said to have crashed in Badakhshan province which borders China, Tajikistan, and Pakistan
An aircraft — suspected to be a Russian chartered ambulance — is believed to have crashed in a mountainous province of northeastern Afghanistan, local authorities there said on Sunday.
After Afghani police reported a plane crash, Russian aviation authorities revealed an aircraft carrying six people had disappeared from their radar screen over Afghanistan on Saturday evening.
The flight was a charter ambulance from India via Uzbekistan to Moscow on a French-made Dassault Falcon 10 jet manufactured in 1978, they said in a statement. It had refueled in India having come from Thailand.
India’s civil aviation authority clarified that the aircraft was not a scheduled commercial flight or an Indian chartered plane and that they awaited more details.
The aircraft is said to have crashed in the Badakhshan province which borders China, Tajikistan, and Pakistan. However, the exact location of the crash is still unknown, news agency AFP reported.
“The plane has crashed but the location is not known yet. We have sent teams but they have not arrived yet,” Zabihullah Amiri, head of the provincial information department said without giving further details.
“We were informed by local people in the morning.”
The province is home to part of the Hindu Kush mountain range and Afghanistan’s highest peak, Mount Noshaq, at 7,492 meters (24,580 feet) high.
mk/rc (Reuters, AFP)