Iran plane crash: Three Brits among dead after crash near Tehran

8 January 2020, 04:12 | Updated: 8 January 2020, 08:38

Three British people are among 176 killed after a plane crashed near the Iranian capital Tehran.

It's understood there were no survivors on the Ukraine International Airlines flight. Iranian authorities have blamed a mechanical problem.

An investigation team has been deployed to the site of the crash in south-western outskirts of Tehran, civil aviation spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh said.

“After taking off from Imam Khomeini International Airport, it crashed between Parand and Shahriar,” he said. “An investigation team from the national aviation department was dispatched to the location after the news was announced.”

The Boeing 737 travelling from Tehran to Kiev has crashed outside the city.

Pir Hossein Kulivand, an Iranian emergency official, later told state TV all those on board were killed in the crash. He said rescuers were trying to collect the dead.

Iranian State TV had previously said there were 180 passengers and crew aboard.

Flight data from the airport showed a Ukrainian 737-800 flown by Ukraine International Airlines took off on Wednesday morning, then stopped sending data almost immediately afterwards, according to website FlightRadar24. The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Boeing have said they are aware of the reports and are in the process of "gathering more information".

State TV has claimed the crash was caused by mechanical issues.

An Associated Press journalists who reached the crash site saw a wide field of debris scattered across farmland. The dead lay among shattered pieces of the aircraft.

Rescuers in masks shouted over the noise of hovering helicopters as they worked.

The crash came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack targeting two bases in Iraq housing US forces in retaliation for the killing of Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani.