Iranian TV and Ukrainian officials said that a Ukrainian plane with 176 people on board crashed on Wednesday, shortly after take off from the Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran, and that all those on board were dead.The plane, a Boeing 737 of Ukraine International Airlines, crashed near the airport and caught fire.
The Ukrainian embassy in Iran said, based on preliminary information, that the plane had suffered a malfunction in the engine, adding that it had not been destroyed by "terrorist act".
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinsky said that there were no survivors of the accident.
He said in a statement that Ukraine is seeking to know the circumstances of the crash and the number of dead.
Iranian state television announced that the accident was the result of technical faults, without giving further details. And the Iranian Radio and Television Corporation said on its website that one of the plane's black boxes was found.
Iranian media quoted an Iranian aviation official as saying that the pilot had not declared a state of emergency before it crashed.
"The fire is so severe that we cannot make any rescue efforts ... There are 22 ambulances, four ambulances and a helicopter on the spot," Bir-Hussein Kollivand, head of Iran's emergency services, told TV.
Iranian state television and the Prime Minister of Ukraine announced that the plane was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew. Iranian television reported that 32 foreigners were on board.
A video clip broadcast on television showed debris and burned engine parts scattered in a field, while rescue workers wore protective masks to retrieve the bodies of the victims.Flight Radar 24, a tracking website for flight traffic, indicates that the stricken plane was en route to Kiev and that it was a Boeing 737-NG and was only three years old.
A Boeing company spokesman said the company was aware of media reports of a plane crash in Iran and was gathering more information.
The company prevented the flight of its 737 MAX fleet in March after two Airbus planes crashed, killing 346 people.
0 Comments