66 killed in Iran plane crash

DUBAI: All 66 passengers and crew were believed to have been killed in a plane crash in central Iran on Sunday, an airline spokesman said, after the domestic flight came down in bad weather in a mountainous region.

Operated by the Iranian carrier Aseman Airlines, the plane crashed near the town of Semirom after taking off from Tehran’s Mehrabad airport, the news agency ISNA quoted emergency services spokes-man Mojtaba Khaledi as saying. The ATR-made plane was on a flight to the southwestern city of Yasuj and there were 60 passengers and six crew aboard.

"All on board were unfortunately killed," Aseman spokesman Mohammad Taqi Tabatabai told state television. Rescue helicopters were unable to land at the probable crash site because of heavy fog and emergency workers were searching the mountainous area by land.

"Heavy snow is making it difficult for rescuers to find the site of the crash," a television reporter accompanying rescue teams told state television. Media reports said the twin-engined turboprop ATR 72 disappeared from radar screens 50 minutes after taking off from the Mehrabad airport.

Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani issued messages of condolences and the president asked the transport minister to lead an investigation into the crash.