KABUL, Oct 12 (AFP) - Eight people were rescued Wednesday after they were stranded in a remote area of Afghanistan overnight after their UN helicopter developed engine trouble and made an emergency landing while on a trip to pick up ballot boxes, a UN spokesman said.
"At 14:41 (1011 GMT) this afternoon a UN helicopter which left Kabul this morning landed in Faizabad with all eight individuals that were in the helicopter that had an emergency landing yesterday," said Manoel de Almeida e Silva told a news conference.
Nobody was injured in the incident three days after Afghanistan's landmark elections, but the three Russian crew members and five Afghan passengers were stranded in the snow in the Wakan corridor in northeastern Badakhshan province overnight.
"I can also tell you that they spent the night well, a little bit cold because the temparature overnight was 10 degrees farenheit (minus 12 deg C) but they were able to keep warm with the emergency supplies that were air-dropped," de Silva said.
Emergency supplies of food, warm clothing and shelter materials were dropped Tuesday.
Ballot boxes from some 5,000 polling stations around Afghanistan's rugged landscape were still being taken to eight counting centres after Saturday's vote.
Counting of the votes that have arrived at the centres has been put on hold until a dispute about alleged irregularities is resolved.