All 168 aboard Iranian plane killed in crash (Third Lead)

Tehran, July 15

All 168 people on board an Iranian airliner which crashed shortly after takeoff from here Wednesday were killed, police and health ministry officials confirmed.

The fully-laden three-engine Tupolev plane, carrying 153 passengers and 15 crew memebrs, crashed around 11.30 a.m. near Jannat-abad village in northwestern Qazvin province.

"The 7908 Caspian flight crashed 16 minutes after its takeoff from the International Imam Khomeini Airport (IKIA) Tehran," said Iran's Aviation Organisation spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh.

"All people on board the plane have been killed in the crash," Hossein Behzadpour, the police chief of Qazvin province, was quoted as saying by the Press TV.

Members of Iran's Junior Judo squad -- eight athletes and two coaches -- were among those killed.

"The aircraft all of a sudden fell out of the sky and exploded on impact, where you see the crater," a witness told Press TV from the crash site.

The crash caused an explosion which created a 10-metre crater on the ground while pieces of the aircraft spread over an area of 200 square meters.

Deputy Governor of Qazvin Sirous Saberi said the military forces were searching for the plane's black box to determine the cause of the crash.

Managing director of Iran's airport authority said all the conversations between the pilot and the ground was normal and did not indicate any technical glitch.

Last updated on Jul 15^th, 2009 at 19:10 pm IST--IANS

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