KABUL, 7 February 2005 — Foreign peacekeepers and Afghan police and troops struggled yesterday to reach the spot where a plane carrying 104 people crashed in snow-clad mountains east of Kabul, as the US Embassy said all those aboard are dead.
Bad weather hampered helicopter flights to the area and Afghan ground troops had been told to try to reach the site, although deep snow and the rugged terrain were hindering efforts three days after the crash, officials said.
“The weather on site is not good at this stage,” said a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Lt. Col. Patrick Poulain.
ISAF was planning to drop troops to the crash site but weather conditions had not permitted them to conduct the operation by early yesterday afternoon.
“At 1:30 p.m. (0900 GMT), we have still not been able to drop troops,” he said. “Whenever weather permits, we will drop them close to the site and they will walk. We hope for an improvement of the weather in the area this afternoon.”
Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi confirmed Afghan troops were preparing for such an operation.
US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad expressed deep sadness at the crash. Six Americans were among the dead.
“One hundred and four people perished in this crash, among them fellow American citizens who were helping to build a better Afghanistan,” he said in a statement.
The Kam Air Boeing 737-200 went missing on Thursday during a flight from the western city of Herat to Kabul. Among those on board were 24 foreigners — six Americans, one Iranian, three Italians, nine Turks, one Canadian and four Russian crew members.
Its wreckage was spotted Saturday 30 km east of Kabul at an altitude of 3,000 meters.
Officials say around 1,000 Afghan police and soldiers are involved in the operation to reach the site. However chances of getting close to the snowcapped peaks appeared slim yesterday. Residents said weather in the area improves briefly in the afternoon but it is dark after 5:30 p.m.
“There is about one to two meters of snow and we estimate that another 50 centimeters of snow fell overnight. The landing zone is very difficult due to steepness, snow and the general terrain,” said ISAF spokeswoman Maj. Karen Tissot van Patot.
“Ground troops are in the area but not at the exact place yet,” she said. “They are trying to get closer by ground.”
Asked how long it would take, she said: “It really depends a lot on the day-by-day weather situation.”
Some local media reports said there could be a minefield in the area but the spokeswoman could not confirm that.
ISAF soldiers and Afghan forces launched the hunt for the aircraft after it disappeared from radar screens on Thursday. Its wreckage was spotted during a joint search. “So far we don’t think there are any survivors,” Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said on Saturday. “The plane is completely destroyed.”
But Transportation Minister Anayatullah Qasimi told a press conference that the search and rescue operation would continue.
Kabul is surrounded by mountains. Afghanistan’s rugged landscape, 40 percent of which is 1,800 meters (5,900 feet) or more above sea level, presents a challenge to pilots.
