Nato mountain rescue troops scour Afghan crash site

KABUL - Helicopters dropped Nato mountain rescue troops on Monday at the site of an Afghan airliner crash on a snow-covered mountain near Kabul, the first time anyone has been able to reach the area since last week's accident.

All 104 people on board the Boeing 737 are feared to have died after it crashed on the 3300 metre mountain about 30 km southeast of Kabul last Thursday.

Most of the passengers were Afghans, but also on board were nine Turks, four Americans, an Italian navy officer, two other Italians, an Iranian and the eight crew, four of them Russians.

If the deaths are confirmed, it would be the worst crash in Afghan aviation history.

Afghanistan's Nato-led peacekeeping force said a Slovenian mountain rescue team, consisting of about 12 soldiers, was dropped by helicopter at the crash site on Monday morning.

"Their role will be to rescue any survivors and begin to secure the crash area," a spokeswoman for the International Security Assistance Force said.

Two more helicopters carrying German medical rescue teams and Italian mountain troops would also be sent to the area, where the weather was now clear.

The spokeswoman said poor weather, including freezing fog and deep snow, had previously prevented ISAF dropping troops at the site, on the Shapiri Ghar mountain above the village of Chenari.

Ground troops have also struggled against the treacherous terrain and the precipitous cliffs to try to reach the wreckage.

First television pictures of the crash site, taken by Reuters Television from an Afghan military helicopter on Monday, showed the white tail fin of the doomed aircraft sticking upright out of the snow with other pieces of wreckage scattered around.

There was no sign of the main sections of the aircraft, including the fuselage and wings.

The plane, operated by private Afghan airline Kam Air, had been flying to Kabul on Thursday from the western city of Herat, a busy route for Afghan businesspeople and foreign aid workers returning to Kabul for the weekend.

The aircraft disappeared off radar screens while approaching Kabul International Airport.

The airport is on a high plain surrounded by mountains, forcing pilots to do a sharp turn immediately before landing even in good conditions. It also lacks sophisticated electronic equipment to guide pilots trying to land in bad weather.

Kam Air opened as Afghanistan's only private airline in November 2003. It flies leased aircraft between Kabul, Dubai and Istanbul and operates several domestic routes.

- REUTERS