A rockfall in the Vanj district of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) district has left one young conscript dead and five others injured after stones struck a bus transporting recruits from GBAO’s Shugnan district to the army.
The incident occurred on the afternoon of April 2 in the Khekhik area of Yazgulem jamoat of Vanj district.
Sources from Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, known locally as Radio Ozodi, in Vanj reported that the body of 18-year-old conscript Maksim Aidarbekov has been returned to his home district of Shugnan. Five other recruits, all natives of Shugnan district, were airlifted to Dushanbe for medical treatment. The injured are between 20 and 26 years old.
According to Radio Ozodi’s sources, rocks that broke loose from the mountainside struck the middle of the bus, causing the tragedy.
The bus, along with a convoy of other vehicles, was transporting newly recruited conscripts from Khorog, the administrative center of GBAO, to the capital.
There has been no official confirmation of the incident or additional details available so far.
The accident occurred one day after a ceremony marking the departure of GBAO conscripts to military service.
