Ukraine International Airlines plane crashes in Tehran; all 176 aboard dead

A Ukrainian aircraft with at least 176 people aboard crashed on January 8 due to technical glitches just after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport, according to Iranian media reports. As per the reports, all 176 passengers on board the PS752 airliner have died. A spokesperson for Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation, Reza Jafarzadeh told the media that rescue teams were immediately sent to the spot near the airport where the aircraft belonging to Ukraine International Airlines crashed but they could not assist since the place was ablaze.

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Plane was heading towards Kiev

According to media reports citing Ali Khashani, a senior public relations official at the airport, the plane was heading towards Kiev and had 167 passengers and nine crew on board. The Boeing 737 took off early Wednseday morning. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Facebook post that he would cancel the rest of his trip to Oman and would return to Kiev due to the crash. “My sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of all passengers and crew,” Zelenskiy said.

The Ukraine Embassy in Iran have reportedly ruled out any terrorism cause and said that the plane had suffered engine failure. The Iranian local media reported that 32 of those on board were foreigners. Local media further reported that the pilot of ill-fated plane did not declare an emergency. Ukraine Security Council said that 11 Ukrainian citizens were killed in the plane crash, including nine crew members. According to air tracking service FlightRadar24, the plane was three years old and was a Boeing 737.

The crash comes just days after Boeing fired its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dennis Muilenburg, in an apparent attempt to restore the confidence of the public and the regulators amid the ongoing crisis.

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(With inputs from agencies)