The Ukrainian plane crash of a Boeing 737 upon takeoff at Tehran, Iran’s airport took the lives of the 176 souls on board, passengers and crew. Who were the victims? Who was on board the plane? They included 63 Canadians and people from six other nationalities around the world.
So far, only the nationalities of the victims, but not their names, have been released. Here’s what’s known. According to CNN, the Ukrainian foreign minister said people from these nationalities were on board the doomed aircraft. There are no survivors:
– 82 Iranians
– 63 Canadians
– 11 Ukrainians
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– 10 Swedes
– 4 Afghans
– 3 Germans
– 3 British nationals
Iranian media has given the cause as engine malfunction. The Ukrainian Embassy in Tehran posted the following statement, according to CNN: “According to preliminary information, the plane crashed due to an engine malfunction. The version of the terrorist attack or rocket attack is currently excluded.”
The president of Ukraine warned against speculation, writing on Facebook, “I ask everyone to keep from speculating and putting forth unconfirmed theories about the crash.”
According to ISNA, an Iranian news agency widely quoted in American media on the crash, most of the people on the doomed plane were Iranians. That agency said 144 of the plane’s passengers were Iranians and 32 were passengers, numbers that don’t match those given out by the Ukrainian foreign minister.
Grim photos showed a massive debris field with very little left of the plane.
Also Read: Ukrainian plane carrying 176 crashes outside Tehran, Iran, killing all on board – Pictures
GettyPeople stand near the wreckage after a Ukrainian plane carrying 176 passengers crashed near Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran on January 8, 2020.
According to ISNA, the cause of the plane crash was “engine failure.” However, on social media, many are raising questions of that claim by Iranian-controlled media, after video emerged that appeared to show the plane falling from the sky already on fire. Even ISNA wrote that the plane was “burning in the sky before crashing in a huge explosion.”
Here’s what you need to know:
The Plane Went Down a Few Minutes After It Took Off From the Tehran Airport
Red Crescent SocietyThe wreckage
Kyiv Post says most of the passengers “were foreign citizens using Kyiv as a stopover for further travels.” The newspaper quoted the head of the airline, Yevhen Dykhne, as saying, “I guarantee that all of our planes are fit to fly. There weren’t any problems with the plane.”
The plane was heading to Kiev in the Ukraine. It didn’t make it very far, crashing only a couple minutes after taking off, and hurtling to the ground.
“It was one of the best planes we had, with an amazing, reliable crew,” Yevhen Dykhne, president of the Ukraine International Airlines, said in a briefing, according to Daily Beast.
The crash came shortly after Iran lobbed missiles at two bases in Iraq that house American soldiers, but no evidence has emerged of a connection.
This post will be updated with more information on the passengers and crew as it is released.
