TEHRAN: Iran's state TV says a Boeing 707 Kyrgyz cargo plane has crashed west of Tehran amid severe weather and that there are fears all crew members have been killed.
Iran's army said the plane was a military one and that 15 out of the 16 people on board had been killed, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
The TV says a fire engulfed the plane immediately after the crash in the town of Safadasht. It's about 50 kilometers, or 30 miles, southwest of Tehran. It says rescue teams, including ambulances and a helicopter, have rushed to the site of the crash.
Footage shows the site of cargo plane crash near #Iran's Fath Airport pic.twitter.com/D8m1bbg4qA
— Press TV (@PressTV) January 14, 2019
The report says the crash occurred as the plane was making a landing approach heading for the wrong airport and trying to land at a non-commercial airport near a residential area instead of a cargo airport some 4 kilometers, or 2.5 miles away.
Earlier Iranian state media said 10 people were on board of the crashed plane, saying it was carrying a cargo of meat from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to Iran.
Plane crash in west of Tehran#Plane_crash #crash #west_of_Tehran #tehran #iran
A Boeing 707 has crashed into Safadasht, in the west of Tehran amid severe weather conditions. pic.twitter.com/WUW6UycIGl— Iran Press News Agency (@iranpress_com) January 14, 2019
A spokeswoman for Kyrgyzstan’s Manas airport said the cargo plane that crashed in Iran on Monday after departing Kyrgyzstan's Manas airport belonged to Iran's Payam Air.
Her statement contradicted reports by Iranian media saying the plane carrying nine people on board belonged to Kyrgyzstan.
Air.
In March last year a private jet owned by Turkish group Başaran Holding crashed, killing 11 people in Iran’s Zagros Mountains while returning to Turkey from the UAE.
(Developing)
