TEHRAN – All 170 passengers and 9 crew members of a Ukrainian plane were killed as it crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport.

The Boeing 737 belonging to Ukraine International Airlines which was headed to Ukrainian capital city Kyiv crashed at 6:18 a.m. local time near the airport.

Pir-Hossein Koulivand, head of Iran’s Emergency Medical Services Organization, told ISNA that among 179 aboard, 147 were Iranians and 32 were foreign nationals.

“22 ambulances and two bus ambulances have been dispatched to the site,” Mojtaba Khaledi, head of Emergency Medical Services Organization spokesman said.

Morteza Salimi, head of Rescue and Relief Organization, also announced that 60 operational teams and two helicopters had been dispatched to the area.

Mohammad Taghizadeh, deputy governor of Tehran said that 70 men, 81 women, 15 children and one infant were killed in the incident. 

Ali Al-ghasi Mehr, Tehran’s prosecutor, announced that the bodies have been collected and transferred to forensics organization for identification.

FB/MG