Ukraine Passenger Jet Crashes in Iran, all 176 on Board Killed
Image Courtesy : The Guardian
Tehran: A Ukrainian airliner carrying 176 passengers crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran on Wednesday, killing all on board, officials in Iran said.
The Boeing 737 had departed Imam Khomeini International Airport before dawn bound for the Ukrainian capital Kiev, semi-official news agency ISNA said.
It slammed into farmland at Khalaj Abad, in Shahriar county, about 45 kilometres northwest of the airport, according to reports on state media.
"Obviously it is impossible that passengers" on flight PS-752 are alive, Red Crescent head Morteza Salimi told semi-official news agency ISNA.
"Out of the 176 people who died, nine were flight crew members and the others passengers," Mohammad Taghizadeh, the deputy governor for Tehran province, told ISNA.
Seventy were men, 81 women and 15 children, he said.
"There are currently 500 medical units on the scene" gathering bodies, he added.
Emergency services spokesman Mojtaba Khaledi said the vast majority of the dead were Iranian citizens.
Just two passengers and nine crew members were Ukrainian, according to Ukraine's national security council, which is overseeing a crisis team.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed all those on board the plane were killed.
According to preliminary data, all passengers and crew members are dead," he wrote on Facebook.
The Red Crescent said teams were being assisted by soldiers and firefighters in the effort to recover bodies.
The crash was likely to have been caused by "technical difficulties", Press TV said, quoting Ali Khashani, spokesman for Imam Khomeini International Airport.
"The plane caught fire after crashing," said Press TV, state television's English-language news broadcaster.
A video aired by the state broadcaster appeared to show the plane already on fire, falling from the night sky.
American airline manufacturer Boeing tweeted: "We are aware of the media reports out of Iran and we are gathering more information." The Ukrainian president warned against speculation about the causes of the crash.
"I ask everyone to keep from speculating and putting forth unconfirmed theories about the crash," Zelensky he wrote on Facebook, as he cut short a vacation in Oman and flew back to Ukraine.
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