65 FEARED DEAD IN IRAN PLANE CRASH
One passenger missed the flight from Teheran to Yasuj
ALL 65 passengers and crew were feared dead in a plane crash in central Iran yesterday after the domestic flight came down in bad weather in a mountainous region.
A spokesman for Iranian carrier Aseman Airlines had told state television everyone was killed, but the airline then issued a statement saying it could not reach the crash site and could not “accurately and definitely confirm” everyone died.
The airline had also initially said 60 passengers and six crew were on board the twin-engined turboprop ATR 72 that was flying to Yasuj. But, it later said there were 65 people on board, as one passenger had missed the flight.
The Aseman-operated plane crashed near the town of Semirom after taking off from Mehrabad airport here, emergency services spokesman Mojtaba Khaledi told Isna news agency.
As night approached, bad weather prevented helicopters searching the probable crash site but emergency workers were scouring the mountainous area by land, the television said.
“It is getting colder and darker and still no sign of the plane,” said a television reporter accompanying rescue teams searching snow-covered areas in Mount Dena which has more than 40 peaks higher than 4,000m.
Media reports said the plane disappeared from radar screens 50 minutes after taking off from Mehrabad airport.
Worried relatives of passengers 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.”
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani issued messages of condolences.
The president asked the transport minister to lead an investigation into the crash.