At least 74 people have been killed and 32have been injured when an Iranian passenger plane crashed near the northwestern city of Orumiyeh, West Azarbaijan province.
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At least 77 people have been killed and 32 have been injured in a plane crash near the northwestern Iranian city of Orumiyeh.
At least 77 people have been killed and more than 32 wer injured when an Iranian passenger plane crashed near the northwestern city of Orumiyeh, West Azarbaijan province.
The IranAir-operated plane, with 106 passengers and crew on board, crashed near Lake Orumiyeh (700 kilometers northwest of the capital, Tehran), head of Iran's State Emergency Center Gholam-Reza Masoumi said on Sunday.
The American-made Boeing 727 had taken off from Mehr Abad Airport in Tehran, with a one-hour delay and was en route to Orumiyeh International Airport when the incident happened.
The plane reportedly approached the runway to land, but was forced to delay the touchdown due to bad weather. The aircraft then disappeared from radar and went down in a farmland after making a second attempt to land.
The exact cause of the crash is not yet known. Iranian Road and Transportation Minister Hamid Behbahani, who rushed to the crash site Sunday night, said the plane's black box would need to be studied before more details could be announced. He also noted there would be interviews with survivors of the crash.
Many of the injured have been reported to be in critical conditions. They have been rushed to hospitals in the cities of Orumiyeh and Tabriz.
Seventy centimeters (27 inches) of snow and thick fog are hampering the rescue operations.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has offered his condolences to the families of the crash victims.
Iran has a history of frequent air accidents blamed on its aging aircraft. IranAir's fleet includes Boeing and Airbus aircraft.
The sanctions by the United States prevent Iran from updating its 30-year-old aircraft and make it difficult to get European spare parts or planes as well.
In July 2009, a Russian-made jetliner crashed in northwest Iran shortly after taking off from the capital, killing all 168 on board.
In Iran's worst air accident, a Russian-made Ilyushin 76 crashed in the mountains of southeastern Iran in February 2003, killing 302 people on board.
