Fragments of a crashed Azerbaijani cargo plane were found on Wednesday to the north of Kabul, the Azerbaijani Civil Aviation Administration said.
The Soviet-designed Ilyushin Il-76, which Afghan television said was carrying fuel intended for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), an international U.S.-led coalition fighting the Taliban, crashed late on Tuesday while preparing for landing at the airport of the northern Afghan town of Bagram.
The plane, operated by Azerbaijan's Silk Way Airlines, which had 9 crew members on board, ripped into many pieces after crashing. Investigators believe the aircraft collided with an unspecified object, probably a mountain.
The plane took off from the Geidat Aliyev Airport in Baku at 9:26 p.m. local time (16:26 GMT) on Tuesday, the Azerbaijani aviation agency said. At around 21:10 GMT, it disappeared from radars, the report said, adding that its crew had not sent any warning signals.
The plane fragments were found some 50 kilometers to the north of Kabul, in the Parwan Province.
The crashed Il-76 plane was produced in 2005, with the latest inspections carried out in June. Planes of this kind are capable of carrying up to 40 tons of cargo.
