Ukrainian Plane Carrying 180 Passengers Crashes Near Tehran

A Ukrainian airplane carrying 180 passengers and crew reportedly crashed near Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport on Wednesday.

According to Al Jazeera, the Boeing 737 jet crashed near Parand, a suburb of capital Tehran shortly after take-off.

Ali Khashani, a senior public relations official at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport, said the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 went down in the vicinity of Parand, a city in Robat Karim county, reports Press TV. He said the crash was likely due to technical difficulties, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Rescue teams have been sent to the crash site, said Reza Jafarzadeh, a spokesman for Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, adding that the number of people onboard was 170 and not 180 as previously reported. Pirhossein Koulivand, head of Iran's emergency services, added that "the plane is on fire but we have sent crews... And we may be able to save some passengers." Flight radar information showed that the plane abruptly disappeared just after 6 a.m.

A Twitter user named Natsecjeff has said that Al-Hadath, news channel, is saying that there are reports that the Ukrainian passenger plane could have been shot down by a misfired Iranian missile.

BREAKING:

Al-Hadath saying there are reports that the Ukrainian passenger plane could have been shot down by a misfired Iranian missile. https://t.co/cKkFISUfcR

— 🏴‍☠️ FJ 🏴‍☠️ (@Natsecjeff) January 8, 2020