The survivors of the plane crash in Koof Aab district of Badakhshan said that technical issues forced the pilots to make an emergency landing.
At least two people were killed, while four others survived after a passenger plane heading from Thailand to Russia crashed in the mountainous area of Badakhshan, according to officials.
The four survivors were rescued by the Islamic Emirate and local people, said those who were rescued.
A Russian pilot and a survivor of the incident in an interview with TOLOnews said: “We were heading from Thailand to Russia. We wanted to take fuel in Tashkent. But the airplane faced a technical problem, thus we made an emergency landing on a mountain in Badakhshan. One of us was in good health. He went to ask for help in one of the villages. Then, the Islamic Emirate’s technical team and the residents came and took us to their homes. They provided us with basic aid and rescued us from death.”
Another survivor who is bed-ridden in Mohammad Daoud Khan hospital, expressed happiness for surviving the incident.
“We are very happy about the Islamic Emirate’s team, who helped us soon,” he said.
A senior official of Mohammad Daoud Khan Hospital, Shafiq Silani, said that the survivors are in good health.
“These four people were injured during the emergency landing. One of them who was not in good health condition, we took him to the surgery room and provided him with necessary service,” he said.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, in a statement on X accompanying a released video said that four crew members of the plane that crashed in Badakhshan have been transferred to Kabul.
According to Mujahid, the medical and rescue teams of the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Defense provided them with medical care.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Ministry of Transport and Aviation, Imamuddin Ahmadi, said that the plane took off from Taiwan for Russia and that it was planning to take fuel in Tashkent, when it deviated from its course.
“There were two pilots, two doctors and a patient and his/her caretaker… Unfortunately, two people died… It was difficult to land the helicopters, but we were able to transfer the surviving people,” he said. The reason for the collapse of the plane has not yet been clarified.
“The dead bodies will be transferred first from the area to Faizabad [Badakhshan’s capital] and then to Kabul,” said Abdul Satar Gharwal, general director of Afghanistan’s airports.—Tolonews
