Afghan Aircraft with 43 People Aboard Crashes

An Afghan aircraft with 43 people on board, including foreigners, have crashed into the mountains of northern Afghanistan, said media reports quoting the interior ministry.

According to reports, the Pamir Airways plane was on its way from the Northern Province of Kunduz to Kabul when it crashed over the Hindu Kush mountains.

However, the cause leading the crash is still not known, reports said.

Interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said that the plane, which was carrying 38 passengers and five crew members, lost radio contact about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the capital, said reports.

“I can confirm that a Pamir Airways plane has crashed over the Salang mountains with 38 passengers and five crew members on board,” AFP quoted Bashary as saying.

“There were some foreigners among the passengers but at this stage we don’t know how many and what nationalities,” he was quoted as saying.

The spokesman, who appealed the US-led NATO force fighting the Taliban to assist in the rescue effort, said that a team has been sent to the rugged mountains to find rubbles and look for survivors, reports said.

“We ask our ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) colleagues to help us locate the site of the crash using their unmanned planes,” he was quoted as saying.

(Based on internet reports)