Eleven Climbers Crash into Pamir Mountains, Pilot Killed

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.

Sources: AP news, Asia-Plus, Tajikistan Ministry of Information

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