All 66 killed in Iran plane crash: Airline

International Desk: Sixty-six people have been killed in a passenger plane crash in Iran, airline company officials say.

The Aseman Airlines plane, en route from Tehran to the south-western city of Yasuj, came down in the Zagros mountains.

The Red Crescent deployed search and rescue teams to the site near the city of Semirom in Isfahan province.

Flight EP 3704 left Tehran at 08:00 local time (04:30 GMT) and disappeared from radar about an hour later.

The aircraft crashed on Dena Mountain, 22km (14 miles) from Yasuj, news channel Irinn reported.

The plane was a French-made twin-engine turboprop ATR 72-500.

Those on board were 60 passengers, two security guards, two flight attendants and the pilot and co-pilot.

"After searches in the area, unfortunately we were informed that the plane crashed. Unfortunately, all our dear ones lost their lives in this incident," airline spokesman Mohammad Tabatabai said.

A child was among the victims, emergency services head Pir Hossein Kulivand was quoted as saying.

Bad weather had hampered rescue efforts. Emergency teams had to travel to the crash site by land rather than using a helicopter, Mr Kulivand said.

Source: BBC online


risingbd/Dhaka/Feb 18, 2018/AI