104 feared dead in Afghan crash

A US military spokesman declined to confirm if the plane had been found and a spokesman for a NATO-led peacekeeping force said it had not.

The aircraft was flying from the western city of Herat to Kabul on Thursday when it went missing after being turned away from Kabul airport.If no survivors are found, it would be the worst crash in recent Afghan aviation history.

At least 14 of the 96 passengers were foreigners, the security source said.

Nine of the foreigners were Turkish nationals working for Turkish companies in Afghanistan, the Turkish Prime minister’s office said. It said the Afghan Transport Ministry had confirmed the plane had crashed.

Italian naval Captain Bruno Vianini was on board the plane, Rome’s Defence Ministry said. Italian Foreign Ministry sources said two other Italians might have been on the plane.

Three American women working for a Massachusetts-based company, Management Sciences for Health, were also on board, its Kabul representative William Schiffbauer said.

Six of the eight crew were also foreign, Kam Air deputy director Feda Mohammed Fedayi said. He initially said the six were from Kyrgyzstan, but later said he was not sure of their nationality.