Photos: Ukrainian Airlines Boeing 737 with 176 aboard crashes today in Tehran! No survivors!!

Iran has blamed a technical failure for a plane crash which killed 177 people near Tehran today, just hours after the Islamic republic launched missile strikes on US bases in retaliation for the death of Qassem Soleimani.

The Boeing 737 jet came down just minutes after take-off from Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran early this morning, sparking fresh alarm amid spiralling tensions in the Middle East. Three Britons and 63 Canadians were among the 177 passengers and crew on board the Ukrainian International Airlines flight to Kyiv. Mystery surrounded the cause of the crash this morning after images emerged showing the wreckage of the Boeing fuselage peppered with holes at the crash site. Iran is blaming 'technical difficulties' and says the pilot lost control after a fire struck one of the plane's engines, but said the crew had not reported an emergency and will not hand the black boxes over to Boeing or the US. The Ukrainian embassy in Tehran initially stated that the crash had been caused by an engine failure rather than terrorism or a missile attack, but later deleted that claim.

Video footage appeared to show the plane already burning in the night sky before it crashed, sparking speculation that it had been accidentally shot down or collided with a military drone. The Boeing plane was less than four years old and had been checked just two days earlier, with 'one of our best crews' manning the aircraft, a Ukrainian airline official said. The French jet engine manufacturer CFM said any speculation about a technical failure was 'premature'. A series of airlines have announced they will stop flying over Iranian airspace with the cause of the crash yet to be fully established. There were no survivors among the 168 passengers and nine crew, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said. The Ukrainian foreign ministry later revealed there were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and three Britons on flight PS752, along with 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans and four Germans. Canada is home to a large Iranian diaspora community and UIA offers discount flights between Tehran and Toronto, with a transit in Kiev.

Culled From The Daily Mail.


82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 3 Britons, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, 4 Afghans and 4 Germans died in the Ukrainian Airlines Boeing 737.