The pilot of an Afghan plane that crashed killing 44 people had dual Russian-Tajik citizenship, the Russian embassy in Kabul said on Wednesday.
The Pamir Airways plane crashed on Monday morning north of Kabul, killing all those on board, including five crewmembers.
The embassy said Alexander Demurov, born in 1952, had worked as instructor/pilot on a contract with the Afghan airline.
The An-24 aircraft, built in 1973 in the Soviet Union, disappeared from radar screens en route from the northern Afghan province of Kunduz to the capital, Kabul.
A provincial police chief said contact with the plane was lost when it was above the Salang Pass, a strategically important mountain pass connecting the north and south of Afghanistan.
No reason has been given for the crash, but visibility was low in Kabul and nearby provinces on Monday, with rain and strong gusts of wind.
KABUL, May 19 (RIA Novosti)
