NATO Troops Find Crashed Afghan Plane

7 February 2005 -- A NATO spokesman said NATO-led troops today reached the wreckage of an Afghan passenger airplane, four days after it crashed into an icy mountain peak east of Kabul.

All 104 people on board the airplane are believed killed. The plane was traveling from the western city of Herat to Kabul when it lost contact in a snowstorm on 3 February.

NATO helicopters spotted parts of the wreckage on 5 February but bad weather and heavy snow prevented rescue efforts.

NATO spokesman Major Joseph Bowman said clear skies today allowed the helicopters to drop a small team of medics, mountaineers, and explosives experts near the crash site. There was no immediate word on what they saw.

(AP)