Silk Way freight plane crashes in Afghanistan killing seven

The cargo plane had at least nine people on board.

A freight plane of Azerbaijan's Silk Way Airlines crashed in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing seven people on board.

The cargo plane carrying at least nine people crashed after taking off from Dwyer Airport in Helmand province, Reuters reported.

The State Civil Aviation Administration of Azerbaijan confirmed the crash but Afghan officials were not available to provide further information.

Silk Way Airlines also did not respond to requests for information. Among the nine people who were on board, five were citizens of Azerbaijan and three were from Ukraine. The pilot was from Uzbekistan.

Silk Way Airlines operates freight planes to Europe and Asia. In July 2011, a Silk Way cargo plane had crashed into a mountain in eastern Afghanistan, killing nine people.

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