Afghanistan plane crash: What we know so far as India, Taliban, Russia give differing accounts
Written By Mukul Sharma
Published: Jan 23, 2024, 19:53 IST | Updated: Jan 23, 2024, 19:53 IST
Topography of Afghanistan's Badakhshan province where the plane reportedly crashed
After a commercial aircraft initially believed to be from India crashed in Afghanistan’s northeast Badakhshan province on Saturday (Jan 20) night, the Indian authorities clarified that none of India's regular flights fly that route.
After verifying if it was a private or a chartered flight, the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Sunday (Jan 21) said "the plane is neither an Indian Scheduled Aircraft nor a Non-Scheduled (NSOP)/Charter aircraft."
The unfortunate plane crash that has just occurred in Afghanistan is neither an Indian Scheduled Aircraft nor a Non Scheduled (NSOP)/Charter aircraft. It is a Moroccan registered small aircraft. More details are awaited: Indian Govt https://t.co/2yrhHu0zxL
"It is a Moroccan registered small aircraft," the Ministry of Civil Aviation added.
The unfortunate plane crash that has just occurred in Afghanistan is neither an Indian Scheduled Aircraft nor a Non Scheduled (NSOP)/Charter aircraft. It is a Moroccan registered small aircraft. More details are awaited.
Afghanistan-based media publications initially reported that the crashed plane was of Indian origin and was en route to Moscow.
An official readout from India's Ministry of Civil Aviation stated that the aircraft was an air ambulance and was flying from Thailand to Moscow and had refueled at Gaya airport in eastern India's Bihar state.
The Indian Civil Aviation ministry says that the Afghanistan crash did not involve an Indian Carrier: https://t.co/MoUdlyQFlC pic.twitter.com/y1XjG4kJhe
"As per available information, the crashed aircraft is a DF-10 (Dassault Falcon) small aircraft registered in Morocco. It is not an aircraft of Indian carriers. The aircraft was an air ambulance and was flying from Thailand to Moscow and did refueling at Gaya Airport," the Ministry of Civil Aviation's statement read.
The Taliban-run Afghan Aviation Ministry said that a plane carrying six Russians from India to Tashkent crashed in Badakshan.
Zabihullah Amiri, a spokesperson for Badakhshan's provincial government, told Reuters that a team had been sent to the location of the crash, a remote area more than 200 km (124 miles) from the provincial capital Fayzabad that would take the team 12 hours to reach.
A Russian-registered chartered plane with six people on board disappeared from radar screens over Afghanistan a day earlier, Russian aviation authorities said after Afghan police said they had received reports of a crash. The aircraft, local media reported while citing Taliban officials, was of Indian origin, a claim later denounced by Indian authorities.
The plane was a charter ambulance flight travelling from Thailand's Utapao Airport in Pattaya to Moscow via India and Uzbekistan on a French-made Dassault Aviation.
The flight was carrying out a private medical evacuation from Thailand's Pattaya, a popular tourist destination for Russians, to Moscow, Russian state-run TASS news agency reported, citing the Russian embassy in Bangkok.
Also watch | Passenger plane crashes in Afghanistan's Badakhshan province
The claim coincides with the statement of Indian aviation ministry that it was an air ambulance flying from Thailand to Moscow.
"On board was a bedridden patient in serious condition, a Russian citizen, who was transported from one of the hospitals in Pattaya to Russia," the RIA news agency reported, citing a source at Thailand's Utapao International Airport.
Russia's Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal case to determine if safety rules had been violated, Reuters reported.