All 176 people on board a Ukrainian airliner that crashed in Iran have died Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.
The Boeing 737 belonging to Ukraine International Airlines crashed near the airport and burst into flames. Iranian TV said the crash was due to technical problems but did not elaborate.
In a statement, Honcharuk said 167 passengers and 9 crew had been registered to fly, adding that a Ukrainian consular official was at the crash site.
“No one has survived the crash of the Ukrainian Airlines plane and we are collecting the bodies,” Pirhossein Koulivand, Iran’s chief of emergency services, said to the state television broadcaster. “All emergency and rescue forces are present at the scene.
Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy broke off a visit to Oman to return to Kiev because of the crash, his office said in a separate statement. “My sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of all passengers and crew,” he said.
Television footage showed debris and smoldering engine parts strewn across a field, and rescue workers with face masks retrieving bodies of the victims.
According to air tracking service FlightRadar24, the plane that crashed was Flight PS 752 and was flying to Kiev. The plane was three years old and was a Boeing 737-NG, it said.
Boeing said on Twitter that it was “aware of the media reports out of Iran and we are gathering more information.” The plane manufacturer grounded its 737 MAX fleet in March after two crashes that killed 346 people.
