Private jet crew somehow SURVIVE crash in remote Afghanistan that left Russian millionaire passenger and his wife dead: Four rescued after trek from wreckage to mountain village

Four people have miraculously survived a plane crash in remote Afghanistan that killed a Russian millionaire and his wife.

The Falcon 10 air ambulance ran into trouble during an emergency medical flight to bring a seriously ill Russian tourist – the millionaire’s wife – home from Thailand.

But the woman and her husband were both tragically killed in the crash in the mountainous Badakhshan province of northeastern Afghanistan. One theory is that the Russian-registered plane was low on fuel and faced strong headwinds.

It was first reported that all on board were feared dead. However, against all odds, the two pilots and two medics survived, despite a failure in both engines.

The first photos of the shocked survivors have now emerged. They are said to have fled from the wreckage of the plane to a mountain village.

The youngest of the four survivors – believed to be paramedic Igor Syvorotkin, 26 years old – traveled in severe cold to the nearest Afghan village, called Pedu.

He allegedly used sign language to call for help.

Three of the stunned survivors are pictured today, and poor quality images show the mangled wreckage of the business jet in the snow.

The millionaire couple who died were Russian entrepreneur Anatoly Evsyukov and his 59-year-old wife Anna Evsyukova, who lived in Russia’s Rostov region, close to the war zone in Ukraine.

She was flown to Moscow after becoming seriously ill during a long winter holiday in Thailand.

The family decided to use a medical evacuation flight so she could be treated in Moscow, but the plane crashed while flying over Afghanistan.

The pilots, who somehow survived when they crashed the plane into the snow-covered mountains, were identified as Dmitry Belyakov and Arkady Grachev.

Grachev is the ex-husband of Ekaterina Agapova, the woman who headed the company – ATLETIK-GRUPP LLC – that was responsible for the evacuation service.

Photos show the couple, who have a son, as they got married.

After the crash, she said: ‘Nothing is known yet, now I’m trying to understand the situation and what happened. There are no confirmed details yet.”

Reports in Moscow say she has since grounded.

The two remaining paramedics were named as Igor Syvorotkin and Pavel Popov.

Reports say the survivors suffered minor but not major injuries.

A Russian helicopter flew to a village near the crash site today to take the men to the capital Kabul for medical checks before they fled on to Moscow.

Argumenty i Fakty, a new outlet in Russia, said today: ‘Ekaterina and Arkady divorced, but they still had a plane that, media reports, was manufactured in 1978 and was recently on its last breath.

“Yet the ex-spouses continued to use it, which led to the tragedy.”

The Izvestia newspaper reported that the pilots may not have been qualified to fly the plane carrying passengers.

“Izvestia’s source reported that the flight was announced as an empty flight with no passengers or cargo,” the report said.

“Pilots Dmitry Belyakov and Arkady Grachev of the Falcon 10 aircraft had minimal experience flying this aircraft.

‘They won’t complete the training until 2023.

“The pilots had a private pilot’s license, but with such a certificate they were not allowed to fly an aircraft on a commercial flight.”

Syvorotkin’s mother said: “We know he is alive, he called us.”

The business jet with tail number RA-09011 had flown from Russia to pick up the sick woman.

A video shows the plane leaving Russia en route to Thailand.

On the way back, the plane flew from U-Tapao, near Pattaya in Thailand, where the woman had been hospitalized for several weeks after falling ill with a mysterious illness.

Subsequently, refueling took place in Gaya, India.

It would make another refueling stop in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, before flying to Moscow’s Zhukovsky Airport.

However, according to reports, the plane ran into trouble over Afghanistan at 7:05 PM local time on Saturday and attempted to land in Tajikistan with an unscheduled stop.

One engine failed at 7:19 p.m., the other ten minutes later, and the plane disappeared from radar at about 7:30 p.m. local time, 56 kilometers from Kulob Airport in Tajikistan.

The crash is the first since Russian planes were subject to sanctions over Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

This has led to multiple emergency landings and air incidents due to a lack of spare parts and maintenance involving Western suppliers.

However, it is unclear whether the sanctions would have been imposed on an air ambulance.

This is reportedly the ninth incident involving a Russian aircraft since the beginning of this year and the eighth on a flight in the past nine days.

The deceased couple’s son Vitali Evsyukov, 41, was not allowed on the small executive air ambulance because only one accompanying passenger was allowed. He flew on a scheduled flight to Moscow and learned of the horrific crash after he landed.

Anatoly Evsyukov was previously awarded by Vladimir Putin’s regional governor for “brave” work in building the economy in the Rostov region.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that the downed Russian plane was found in the Kuf Ab district of Badakhshan.

He said the chief pilot and three others survived.