An Iranian airliner carrying 117 people crashed into a mountain
while trying to land in western Iran on Tuesday, killing all
aboard, a government official and local residents said.
The Russian-built Tupolev-154, belonging to Iran Air Tours, an
affiliate of the state carrier Iran Air, was flying from the
capital Tehran to Khorramabad when it disappeared off radar screens
southwest of the city.
Low clouds and heavily overcast skies may have hampered landing,
residents said.
The official, who declined to be identified, said those killed
--105 passengers and the rest crew -- included four government
officials and at least two foreigners.
"All 117 are dead," the official told Reuters.
Khorramabad lies to the east of the Zagros mountain range running
along the border with Iraq. State radio said villagers in the area
were startled by an explosion early in the morning.
"There is a mountain close to the airport and the plane crashed
into it as it was landing," said a local resident who visited the
crash site.
"The plane was totally destroyed and scattered in small pieces
across the mountain," the resident said.
A
Transport Ministry spokesman said four Italians were among the
passengers, but a diplomat at the Italian embassy in Tehran said he
could not confirm his countrymen were among those missing and said
four names he had been given appeared to be Hispanic.
The government official could only confirm two foreigners were
among the dead.
Iranian airlines have been dogged by a history of accidents in
recent years.
Subject to US sanctions, the country has had difficulty obtaining
spare parts for its ageing fleet of aircraft, many of them Boeings
acquired before the 1979 Islamic revolution, and has instead leased
planes from the former Soviet Union.
Last May, a Russian-built Yakovlev Yak-40 plane carrying 30 people
including the transport minister and seven parliamentarians crashed
near the northern town of Sari killing all on board.
Following that crash, Iranian legislators called for tighter
aircraft safety controls.
US
sanctions bar the sale of Boeing airliners to the Islamic Republic
and hinder the acquisition of other aircraft, many of which rely on
US-built engines or other components.
(China
Daily February 12, 2002)