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A total of 176 passengers have been confirmed dead as Ukrainian passenger plane crashed on Wednesday, it happened two minutes after takeoff from Tehran, the capital of Iran.
State-owned news agency IRNA reported that 167 of the victims were passengers and the remaining 9 were crew members.
The aircraft was operated by Ukraine International Airlines.
“Obviously it is impossible that passengers” on flight PS-752 are alive, the head of Red Cross told semi-official news agency ISNA.
The Boeing 737 had left Tehran’s international airport bound for Kiev, the agency said, adding that 10 ambulances were sent to the crash site.
The Ukrainian Embassy in Tehran said it has ruled out terrorism as a cause of the crash and that preliminary information shows it was caused by an engine malfunction.
In a statement, Iran’s Civil Aviation Authority said it had launched an investigation.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in a Facebook post that he would cancel the rest of his current trip to Oman and would return to Kiev due to the crash.
“My sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of all passengers and crew members,” Zelensky said.
