Plane Crash leaves 65 Presumed Dead in Iran
Mon Feb 19, 2018 10:47:am World
6.1K By Barakat Husseini
Rescue teams in Iran are trying to locate the wreckage of a plane that crashed with about 65 people on board it. The search for the Aseman Airlines flight has been impeded by glacial temperatures and mountainous terrain.
UPDATE: Local media says the plane has been found. Search had been called off late on Sunday due to heavy wind and snow but resumed on Monday. Officials from the region told news channels, rescuers had reached the site. No news yet on those who were on board the plane. A civil aviation spokesman told Reuters news agency he could not confirm the reports.
On Sunday, the flight from Tehran disappeared from radar screens, 50 minutes into its journey to the southwestern city of Yasuj. It is believed to have gone down in a mountainous area near the town of Semirom. All 65 passengers and crew were feared dead in a plane crash
"Five units started the search operation in early hours of the morning, in -16 degrees (Celsius, 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit)," a local Red Crescent official was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency.
Iran's Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi was quoted by Tasnim news agency saying: "We are facing a total enigma. We do not know anything about the crash," not long after he arrived at Semiron.
The deputy head of the Iranian Space Agency, Mojtaba SaradeghiIran said the government has asked for assistance from European countries and China in the search operation with their satellite imagery.
The twin-engine turboprop ATR 72, just over 24 years old, had been in storage for 6 years and was 3 months ago restored to service. ATR, the joint venture between Airbus and Italy's Leonardo which manufactured the plane, said the reason of the accident was not yet known.
Worried relatives of passengers had gathered at Yasuj airport.
"I kept telephoning all morning but they (the relative) wouldn't answer. So I called my brother and he said they will get here, it (the plane) is not behind schedule yet," a young woman told a reporter for state television.
"I told him it is raining here. He said no (meaning, don't worry). He called later and said the plane had crashed."
Several plane crashes has occurred in the past few decades in the country, which Tehran blames on U.S. sanctions, which has been an obstacle to it's acquisition of new aircraft or spare parts.
UPDATE: Local media says the plane has been found. Search had been called off late on Sunday due to heavy wind and snow but resumed on Monday. Officials from the region told news channels, rescuers had reached the site. No news yet on those who were on board the plane. A civil aviation spokesman told Reuters news agency he could not confirm the reports.
On Sunday, the flight from Tehran disappeared from radar screens, 50 minutes into its journey to the southwestern city of Yasuj. It is believed to have gone down in a mountainous area near the town of Semirom. All 65 passengers and crew were feared dead in a plane crash
"Five units started the search operation in early hours of the morning, in -16 degrees (Celsius, 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit)," a local Red Crescent official was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency.
Iran's Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi was quoted by Tasnim news agency saying: "We are facing a total enigma. We do not know anything about the crash," not long after he arrived at Semiron.
The deputy head of the Iranian Space Agency, Mojtaba SaradeghiIran said the government has asked for assistance from European countries and China in the search operation with their satellite imagery.
The twin-engine turboprop ATR 72, just over 24 years old, had been in storage for 6 years and was 3 months ago restored to service. ATR, the joint venture between Airbus and Italy's Leonardo which manufactured the plane, said the reason of the accident was not yet known.
"I kept telephoning all morning but they (the relative) wouldn't answer. So I called my brother and he said they will get here, it (the plane) is not behind schedule yet," a young woman told a reporter for state television.
"I told him it is raining here. He said no (meaning, don't worry). He called later and said the plane had crashed."
Several plane crashes has occurred in the past few decades in the country, which Tehran blames on U.S. sanctions, which has been an obstacle to it's acquisition of new aircraft or spare parts.
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