106 people on board in Iran military plane crash – UPDATE

Iran Focus: Tehran, Iran, Dec. 06 – An Iranian military plane crashed south of the Iranian capital Tuesday afternoon, officials in Tehran said, while a state-run news agency put the number of people on board at 106. Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Dec. 06 – An Iranian military plane crashed south of the Iranian capital Tuesday afternoon, officials in Tehran said, while a state-run news agency put the number of people on board at 106.

The plane, a C-130 transport aircraft, was travelling from Tehran to the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.

State television said that it crashed in Yaft-Abad, a residential district of the Iranian capital.

The Fars news agency, close to the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader, put the number of passengers on board at 106, while the state-run IRNA news agency reported it at 94.

Fars said that the aircraft crashed into a 10-storey building, which housed dozens of residential apartments.

There were at least 10 crew members aboard and one police report said the plane was carrying up to 60 journalists who were planning to cover Navy manoeuvres in the south of the country.

The plane burst into flames when it hit the building after it failed an attempted emergency landing at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport soon after it reported technical difficulties.

Several fire engines are at the crash site, the state-run news agency ISNA said.

On February 19, 2003, a military aircraft crashed in southeast Iran, killing 276 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) soldiers on board.