AFP and Xinhua News Agency reported on the 21st that the aircraft that crashed in northern Afghanistan was not the Indian passenger plane bound for Moscow as originally known, but a small Russian plane.
Citing an emergency announcement from the Russian Federal Aviation Administration, the media reported that the aircraft that landed in the mountainous area of the Topkana region of Badakhshan Province the night before (local time) was a Russian-registered small plane with six people on board.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced that the plane crashed in Afghanistan while flying from India to Moscow Zhukovsky Airport via Uzbekistan with four crew members and two passengers on board.
Additionally, the Federal Aviation Administration explained that it is conducting a search for the aircraft and is also in contact with aviation authorities in Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
India’s Civil Aviation Authority issued a statement confirming that the aircraft was a charter flight and not an Indian flagged or passenger aircraft.
The Civil Aviation Authority introduced that the accident plane was a small Falcon (DF)-10 aircraft, a rescue charter flight, and initially took off from Thailand and stopped at Gaya Airport in India for refueling while flying to its final destination.
Previously, local TV channels Tolo News, Qassam Press, and Wion, citing Afghan public information officials, police, and Taliban government officials, reported that an Indian airliner crashed in a mountainous area in the Topkana region of Badakhshan Province, causing a significant number of casualties.
ANI news agency also reported that the accident plane was a DF-10 belonging to Morocco.
A police spokesperson explained that the model of the plane that crashed, the number of people on board, the cause and circumstances of the accident, and the casualties were not yet confirmed.
Zabihullah Amiri of Badakhshan province’s Information and Culture Department announced that a rescue team had been dispatched to the Topkana area of Qur’an wa Munzan district where the plane crashed, without immediately providing details.
Officials from other Badakhshan provinces said the crash site, near the border with China, Tajikistan and Pakistan, had not yet been precisely identified.
Badakhshan Province is traversed by the Hindu Kush Mountains and is home to Mount Noshak, the highest peak in Afghanistan at 7,492 meters above sea level.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.