A plane carrying 44 people, including six foreigners, on a domestic flight in Afghanistan crashed about 100 kilometres outside Kabul Monday morning. There was no immediate word on casualties.
The British Embassy in Kabul confirmed that three British nationals were aboard the flight, but did not name the passengers. One American was on the flight, an official from the U.S. State Department said.
Canadian officials say there were no Canadians on the flight.
Rescuers were slowed by poor weather on the way to the crash site, which is believed to be near the 3,800-metre-high Salang Pass, a route through the Hindu Kush mountains that connects the Afghan capital to the north.
"This is terrain that is very, very difficult to reach," Canadian freelance reporter Tom Popyk told 麻豆影视 Channel in a phone interview from Afghanistan.
Popyk said that the poor weather is suspected as being the cause of the crash, adding that several military flights were cancelled Monday because of the weather.
The plane was operated by Pamir Airways, a private Afghan airline, and was flying from Kunduz, in northern Afghanistan, to Kabul.
Col. Wayne Shanks, a spokesman for U.S. and NATO forces, said the coalition has sent aircraft to assist in the search.
NATO said a fixed wing aircraft was dispatched to the area but the aerial search is being hampered by the weather. Two NATO helicopters have also been sent to the crash site.
"The weather is very bad," Gen. Rajab, commander of the Salang Pass for the Afghan Ministry of Public Works, who goes by only one name, told The Associated Press "It is snowing. There is flooding."
Pamir Airways has operated since 1995. According to its website, the company uses the Soviet-built Antonov An-24 aircraft on its flights from Kundoz to Kabul.
The two-engine turboprop can carry up to 52 passengers and production on the plane was stopped in 1979 in the Soviet Union, according to the Aviation Safety Network. China builds a modernized version of the plane.
There have been 143 accidents of some sort involving the Antonov An-24, according to statistics put together by the Aviation Safety Network.
With files from The Associated Press
