KHUJAND, May 25. “Asia Plus” — Tajik Foreign Ministry has confirmed the tragic death of three Tajik citizens who died in a crash of AN-24 jet which was the property of Pamir Airways, the Afghan private air company, and which crashed on May 17 while performing the flight from Kunduz to Kabul.
There were 40 passengers on the board of the crashed air liner, including 4 crew members, three of which were citizens of Tajikistan – 56-year-old captain of the crew Alexander Demirov, 30-year-old flight engineer Bahtier Kenjaev, 56-year-old flight mechanic Gulmahmad Kurbonov, a spokesman for the Tajik Foreign Ministry Davlat Nazriev told the AP.
“The issues of transportation of dead bodies to Tajikistan are now being considered,” Nazriev has said.
Meanwhile, no reasons for the crash of the air liner were reported. According to AP’s source in Khujand airport, which sites Pamir Airways as a source, the crashed plane has been already found as well as several dead bodies.
“It is more likely that rescuers have found dead bodies of A.Demurov, G.Kurbanov and B.Kenjaev. Both the captain and flight technician were assigned to a separate air squadron of the Khujand International Airport, but both were on leave and worked for the Afghan air company under separate contracts. The dead flight mechanic used to be a member of the same air squadron,” the source has said.
Fragments of the crashed air plane were found by helicopter of the International Security Forces on Salang mountain pass, Bahtar news agency reports. AN-24 plane, which carried a total of 44 people, departed from Kunduz airport and crashed on its way to Kabul.
It is believed that pilots have lost control over the plane due to bad weather conditions even though Afghan authorities claim that the final reason for the crash has not been identified yet. Bad weather conditions have also complicated the search of the crash scene. The search was conducted jointly by Afghan services and International Security Forces.
The commission, which investigates the scene, consists of representatives of Afghan authorities, representatives of the air company and International Security Forces. Flight recorders have been already found and investigators still continue to identify fragments of dead bodies. No one was reported to survive the crash.
