176 killed as Ukrainian jet crashes in Iran

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Wed, 08 Jan 2020 09:10:56 +0000

PEOPLE stand near the wreckage of a Ukrainian plane that crashed near Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran yesterday. All 176 people – 167 passengers and nine crew members – on board the plane were killed when it crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran.  (Photo by ROHHOLLAH VADATI/ISNA/AFP)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – A Ukrainian airplane carrying 176 people crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran’s main airport yesterday, killing all onboard, state TV reported.

The plane had taken off from Imam Khomeini International Airport in the Iranian capital when a fire struck one of its engines, said Qassem Biniaz, a spokesman for Iran’s Road and Transportation Ministry.

The pilot of the aircraft then lost control of the plane, sending it crashing into the ground, Biniaz said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

The plane carried 167 passengers and nine crew members from different nations on its flight to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Biniaz said. The crash killed all on board, Iranian emergency officials and Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said.

Flight data from the airport showed a Ukrainian 737-800 flown by Ukraine International Airlines took off yesterday morning, then stopped sending data almost immediately afterward, according to website FlightRadar24. The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy extended his condolences to the families of the victims.

Associated Press journalists who reached the crash site s
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