Delhi: Ukrainian airliner crashed soon after taking off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport on Wednesday, killing all 176 people aboard, Iran’s state television and Ukraine’s leaders said.
The Boeing 737 belonging to Ukraine International Airlines crashed near the airport and burst into flames. Ukraine’s embassy in Iran, citing preliminary information, said the plane had suffered engine failure and the crash was not caused by “terrorism”.
“My sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of all passengers and crew,” Zelenskiy said in a statement, adding that Ukraine was seeking to establish the circumstances of the cr
ash and the death toll.
Iranian TV said the crash was due to technical problems but did not elaborate. State broadcaster IRIB said on its w
ebsite that one of the plane’s two black boxes – the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder – had been found.
Iranian media quoted an Iranian aviation official as saying the pilot of the airliner did not declare an emergency.