Ghund valley, Tajikistan. A helicopter transporting eleven climbers crashed in the Ghund valley on March 8, killing the pilot. [Photo] Aliah Najmabadi
On March 8th, a Soviet era Mi-8 helicopter owned by the state carrier Tajik
Air, which was transporting eleven climbers, crashed in the Pamir mountains,
according to a statement issued by the Interior Minister.
The helicopter had three crew, and a Tajik translator, and climbers from
Austria, Switzerland, Russia, France, Belgium, Germany and Great Britain.The
helicopter pilot, Tolib Sardorov, was killed, and two crewmembers, the
translator, and a Russian and French climber were injured, the ministry
said.
Davlat Habibov, the director of the International Mountaineering Center
Alp-Mashkov, the ‘Sport camp’ where the climbers were based, said the
climbers had picked up by a helicopter in good weather about 2:00 p.m. in
the village of Vir, in the Shugnan district.
The helicopter crashed in the Ghund valley about 50 miles east of Khorog, the
provincial capital of Tajikistan’s Gorno-Badakhshan (GBAO) region, near the
Afghan border.
A black box was found, but the cause of the crash is unknown and still under
investigation.
More information is available at en.kyrgyznews.kg.