Body of Late Tajik Governor’s Wife Recovered From Panj River Near Afghan Border

An undated family photo shows former Gorno-Badakhshan governor Alisher Mirzonabot with his wife, Amina Amonulloeva, and their young child. Tajik authorities said Amonulloeva’s body was recovered from the Panj River after the family’s vehicle plunged into the river along the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border. Tajikistan’s Committee for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense said the body of Amina Amonulloeva, wife of the late Gorno-Badakhshan governor Alisher Mirzonabot, has been recovered from the Panj River more than two weeks after the family’s vehicle plunged into the river along the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border. The committee said the body was found on the Afghan side of the border and handed over to Tajik authorities after coordination between Tajik border units and Afghan border guards. Officials said a forensic examination confirmed the remains belonged to Amonulloeva. The accident occurred on June 17 as Mirzonabot, his wife, their young daughter, a driver and an aide were traveling on the Dushanbe-Khorog highway, according to Tajik authorities and local media. The vehicle fell into the Panj River in Darvaz district, a mountainous area where the river forms part of the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Tajik officials have said the crash was caused by the driver losing control while traveling at high speed. The claim has been presented by authorities as the preliminary cause of the accident, and no further detailed findings from an investigation have been publicly released. Mirzonabot’s body was recovered on June 30 near the village of Kisht in Shamsiddin-Shohin district of Khatlon province after a search that lasted nearly two weeks. His identity was confirmed through forensic examination before he was buried in his native village of Shidz in Rushan district, according to Tajik media citing officials. The bodies of the driver, identified in reports as Sino Muborakshoyev, and the aide, identified as Sadonsho Janobalisho, were recovered earlier. Authorities initially faced confusion over the identity of one recovered body, with later forensic checks confirming it was the aide rather than Mirzonabot, according to RIA Novosti and other regional reports. Search teams are continuing efforts to find the couple’s young daughter, who remains missing, the Committee for Emergency Situations said. Earlier reports said more than 100 rescuers and local personnel were involved in the operation, with strong currents and high water levels complicating the search. Mirzonabot had headed the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region since November 2021. The remote, mountainous province in eastern Tajikistan borders Afghanistan and covers nearly 45 percent of the country’s territory, while accounting for only a small share of its population. The region has long held strategic importance because of its geography, border location and history of periodic unrest. The post Body of Late Tajik Governor’s Wife Recovered From Panj River Near Afghan Border appeared first on Khaama Press.