CBC, January 8, 2020 - Sixty-three Canadians are among the dead after a Ukraine International Airlines plane crashed near Iran’s capital, killing all 176 passengers and crew, Ukraine’s foreign minister says.

The passenger jet, Flight PS752, crashed on Wednesday just minutes after taking off from Tehran’s main airport, turning farmland into fields of flaming debris.

 

 

Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Vadym Prystaiko said 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians were on board — the Ukrainian nationals included two passengers and the nine crew. There were also 10 Swedish, four Afghan, three German and three British nationals, he said.

CBC News has reached out to Global Affairs Canada, but has not yet heard back.

The crash came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on Iraqi bases housing U.S. soldiers, but Iranian officials said they suspected a mechanical issue brought down the 3½-year-old Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Ukrainian officials initially agreed, but later backed away and declined to offer a cause while the investigation is ongoing.

Airline officials said most of the passengers were en route to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, transiting through to other destinations. Staff at Boryspil International Airport in Kyiv told The Associated Press that passengers on this flight are usually Iranian students returning to Ukraine after winter holidays.

Ukraine International Airlines said it had indefinitely suspended flights to Tehran after the crash.

“It was one of the best planes we had, with an amazing, reliable crew,” Yevhen Dykhne, the airline’s president, said at a briefing following the crash.

 

Cause of crash not yet clear

A Ukraine International Airlines statement said it is working to confirm the accuracy of reports regarding the cause of the crash.

“Our task is to establish the cause of the crash of the Boeing and provide all necessary help to the families of the victims,” said parliament speaker Dmytro Razumkov in a Facebook statement.

The airline said it indefinitely suspended flights to Tehran after the crash.

Hassan Razaeifar, head of air crash investigation committee, said it appeared the pilot couldn’t communicate with air-traffic controllers in Tehran in the last moments of the flight. He did not elaborate.

For more information, please visit cbc.ca

 

 

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