Rescuers reach remote location of airliner crash
TEHRAN — Iranian search and rescue teams on Monday reached the site of a plane crash that authorities say killed all 65 people on board, Iran’s Press TV reported.
The Aseman Airlines ATR-72, a twin-engine turboprop used for short-distance regional flying, went down Sunday in foggy weather, crashing into Mount Dena in a remote area of southern Iran. The airliner said all on board Flight EP3704 were killed, including six crew members.
The crash of the aircraft, brought back into service only months ago after being grounded for seven years, was yet another fatal aviation disaster for Iran, which for years was barred from buying necessary airplane parts because of Western sanctions over its contested nuclear program.
Press TV said search teams reached the crash site before dawn on Monday. The station said the weather had improved, though it was still windy. The semiofficial Tasnim News Agency cited the military as saying Russia had helped locate the crash site. Russia and Iran are close military allies.
Press TV broadcast footage of a helicopter joining the search and showed ambulances and rescue vehicles preparing to reach the site on Mount Dena, which is 14,400 feet tall. The site is reportedly at a height of 11,500 feet.
Other Iranian news outlets and officials did not confirm that the crash site had been reached. State radio said five helicopters and five drones were active in the search operation. Iran’s semiofficial ISNA news agency said more than 150 climbers joined the operation.
Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi left Tehran on Monday to visit the site of the crash, state TV reported. State TV quoted him as saying the cause of the crash was still “not clear.”
Reza Jafarzadeh, a spokesman for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, said a delegation from France was to arrive in Tehran to investigate the cause of the crash, the official IRNA news agency reported. Jafarzadeh said the delegation includes four officials from French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR.
The ATR-72 went down near its destination, the southern city of Yasuj, about 485 miles south of the capital, where it took off.
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the crash, although weather was severe. Dense fog, high winds and heavy snow in the Zagros Mountains made it impossible for rescue crews in helicopters to reach the site in the immediate aftermath, state TV reported.