Iran: Plane Crash Kills 168

The passenger aircraft had been in the air for just a quarter of an hour when it crashed to the ground.

It had been traveling from Teheran (Iran) to Armenia.

All 168 people on board were killed.

[Local Police Officer]:
„Sadly around midday I saw a thick plume of smoke, which seemed to come from the outskirts of town. I radioed my colleagues back at headquarters to verify the location and they confirmed it was south of the town.“

Distraught relatives gathered at Yerevan airport in Armenia where the plane should have landed.

Eight members of Iran’s junior national judo team and two of their coaches were among the victims.

[Arlen Davudyan, Caspian Airline Representative]:
„On board the plane there were 151 adults, 2 children and 15 crew members, 15 or 16 minutes after take-off the plane fell near the Iranian city Qazvin about 150 kilometers north of Tehran. The cause of the crash is not clear and the black box has not yet been found.“

The plane was a Tupolev Tu-154.

It’s the third crash in Iran involving that particular model in just seven years.

And it’s also the worst.

One Iranian official said the plane had experienced technical problems and was attempting to make an emergency landing.

Debris was spread over 200 square meters and only small chunks of the plane remain intact.

An investigation into the cause of the accident is being launched.

(NTDTV)