Search teams in Afghanistan have reached the wreckage of the passenger plane belonging to Pamir Airlines that crashed on the 17th of May, 2010, in a remote mountain site called Salang Pass, north of the capital Kabul. Faruk Aktas, coordinator of IHH’s Asia Desk and Bahattin Yildiz, our project coordinator in Afghanistan martyred in the airplane crash. The arrival of the bodies to Turkey will take a while as the identification process still continues.
Our partner organization Hedef Foundation’s President Ahmet Igbal Yoldas and its Foreign Affairs Officer Aynuddin Yoldas also martyred in the plane crash. They may rest in peace in paradise and may Allah’s blessings be upon them. We send our condolences to their families and beloved ones. May Allah grant them patience and strength.
Our foundation has made enormous efforts since the day the accident happened to find the crash site. The day the airplane crashed, two staff members of IHH were sent to Afghanistan on a mission of following up and helping search teams and rescue attempts.
Upon the receiving of the sad news, a crisis desk was set up at IHH in cooperation with,
- Republic of Turkey Foreign Affairs Ministry
- Turkish Embassy in Kabul
- NATO Headquarters in the region
- Afghanistan Ministry of Interior Affairs
- Afghanistan Defense Ministry
- Afghanistan Ministry of Transportation
- Afghanistan Bureau of Civil Security
- Afghan local authorities
- Pamir Airlines Officials
- IHH’s partner organization in Afghanistan
- Ahmet Faruk Unsal, Ihsan Ozyurek and Orhan Sefik, members of the board of trustees of IHH, sent to Afghanistan for search and rescue mission.
Heavy snow, dense fog and steep mountains hindered rescuers who fanned out across mountainous terrain to search for the wreckage. Helicopters, despite numerous attempts, could not pass through the dense fog and heavy snow. On the 5th day following the accident, the helicopters were finally able to reach the crash site and unfortunately there was no sign of life.
We would like to express our thanks to the officials in Afghanistan and Turkey for their efforts in searching for the wreckage.
