MOSCOW, August 10 (RIA Novosti) – Nearly 50 people could have been on board the passenger plane that crashed near Tehran’s Mehrabad airport, Agence France-Presse reported Sunday, citing local media.
"All the passengers are dead," a fire service spokesperson was quoted as saying. According to another source, 48 people were on board the plane.
The turboprop An-140 aircraft owned by Sepahan Air (other reports claim the flight was operated by Taban Airlines’ Iran-141 plane) was en route from Tehran to the city of Tabas in eastern Iran. According to IRNA news agency, the airliner went down on Sunday at 9:18 a.m. local time (04:48 GMT) almost immediately after the takeoff.
The plane crashed in the densely populated residential area. No casualties on the ground or damage to the area has been reported yet.
