BEIJING, Feb. 5 -- In Afghanistan bad weather has hampered Afghan and NATO forces in their search for a passenger plane that has gone missing near the capital Kabul.

    A massive ground and air search started on Friday, a day after the plane disappeared with 104 people on board.

    The ill-fated Kam Air Boeing 737 took off from the western Afghan city of Herat bound for Kabul. But it was unable to land because of heavy snowstorm.

    Enayatulah Qasimi, Afghan minister of Transport, said: "It was headed towards Kabul, the last contact it made with Kabul Airport authority with the control tower, was asking for weather information, subsequently it was cleared for landing by Bagram and then moments later, the last time we have been told that the aircraft was seen on radar was about 3.1 mile east of Kabul"

    The airline initially said the plane was diverted to neighboring Pakistan, but officials there said it never entered their airspace.

    Gen. Mohammed Zahir Azimi, Defense Ministry spokesman, said: "This morning our national army along coalition forces and the ISAF began searching the area. But we have not found any wreckage so far."

    There appears to be uncertainty about the fate of the flight. But Turkey says the Afghan Transport Ministry has sent a statement to the Turkish Prime Minister's office, officially informing him that the plane had crashed, and naming nine Turkish citizens on board.

    The area where the plane might have crashed is mountainous and snow-bound, making any search and rescue operation difficult. Friday's search was conducted in freezing conditions, and suspended at nightfall.

(Source: CCTV.com)