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Passenger Plane Crashes in Northern Afghanistan

   VOA News 17 May 2010
   An  unidentified  man  grieves  outside the airport terminal in Kabul,
   upon  receiving the news of the crash of a plane carrying his relative
   near the Salang Pass, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, 17 May 2010

Photo: AP

   An  unidentified  man  grieves  outside the airport terminal in Kabul,
   upon  receiving the news of the crash of a plane carrying his relative
   near the Salang Pass, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, 17 May 2010

   Officials  say  an  Afghan  passenger  plane  carrying  43 passengers,
   including  six  foreigners,  has  crashed in the mountains of northern
   Afghanistan.
   Authorities  say the Pamir Airways flight went down early Monday while
   on its way from the northern city of Kunduz to the capital, Kabul.
   Rescuers  were  headed to the presumed crash site near the Salang Pass
   in  the  Hindu Kush mountains, north of the Afghan capital.  But poor
   weather conditions, including fog, were said to be hampering an aerial
   search.
   Afghan  Interior  Ministry  spokesman  Zemarai  Bashary  said NATO-led
   forces  had  been  asked  to  help  locate  the  plane using pilotless
   drones.   NATO  said  in  a statement that it had dispatched a manned
   aircraft  to  the  last  known  position  of  the missing plane.  Two
   helicopters were also on route to the area.
   The privately-owned Pamir Airways began operations in 1995. The Afghan
   airline has daily domestic flights and also flies to Dubai.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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