Four survivors of Moscow-bound charter jet crash in Afghanistan in 'good condition', says Taliban official

Four individuals who miraculously survived a fatal plane crash in northern Afghanistan were in good health, the Taliban administration said in a statement on Monday (Jan 22).

It further said that the bodies of the two passengers who lost their lives in the incident were being moved to the Afghan capital from the remote crash site.

"Four people from the crashed plane in Badakhshan were transferred to Kabul, the medical and rescue teams of the Ministry of Aviation and the Ministry of Defence have provided them with first aid," Taliban administration spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.

The charter plane destined for Moscow, with six people aboard, had gone off the radar on Saturday (Jan 20) after which it was reported that it had crashed in the mountains in northern Afghanistan.

The footage released by Mujahid's office showed the four survivors of the crash, with severe injuries, getting out of a chopper with Taliban officials.

In the video, an unnamed Taliban official said that the health condition of the four men who survived the incident was good.

"Alhamdulillah (praise be to God) last night we found that place (the crash site), a total of six people were in the plane, four of them are alive and two are dead," he said, adding that the bodies had been transferred to the northern provincial city of Fayzabad and were being brought to Kabul.

The Moscow-bound jet that crashed was carrying out a private medical evacuation from Thailand's Pattaya, Russian state-run TASS news agency reported, citing the Russian embassy in Bangkok.

The French-made Dassault Aviation Falcon 10 jet, manufactured in 1978, experienced fuel issues about 25 minutes before disappearing from radar, news agency Reuters reported citing Russian media outlet SHOT.

The pilot had then warned that he would try to land the plane at an airport in Tajikistan.

(With inputs from agencies)