NEW DELHI: Four people survived and two are unaccounted for after a Russian plane crashed in mountainous northeastern Afghanistan, the air transport agency Rosaviatsia said Sunday.
The Falcon 10 business jet was believed to be carrying six people on a hospital flight to Uzbekistan and Russia before communication was lost on Saturday evening.
"Of the six people on board the aircraft, tentatively, four are alive. They have various injuries. The fate of two people is being clarified," Rosaviatsia said, citing the Russian embassy in Afghanistan.
The ministry of airport transport and aviation in Afghanistan said that the aircraft crashed in Koof-Aab district of Badakhshan province, and claimed that four passengers survived the crash.
A provincial government official in Afghanistan told AFP the aircraft came down in Badakhshan province, which borders China, Tajikistan and Pakistan.
``The aircraft had taken off from Thailand and had made a brief technical stopover in Gaya airport for refueling,’’ according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Since the aircraft took off from Gaya after refueling it was earlier mistaken to be an Indian carrier as per early reports coming from Afghanistan’s media.
The aircraft was registered in Russia and was a French-made Dassault Aviation Falcon 10 manufactured in 1978. It is reported that there was a warning that the fuel was running low and the aircraft was considering to refuel in Tajikistan. The pilot reportedly said that one engine had stopped and then the second one too stopped working after which it went missing from the radar.
According to reports coming from Russia, two passengers and four crew members were on board the flight which flew from Utapao airport near Pattaya and was on its way to Moscow via India and Uzbekistan.
(With inputs from AFP)