Iran plane crash toll climbs
2005-12-07 11:54
Teheran - The death toll in Tuesday's C-130 plane crash has reached 106, reports the Iranian news network, Khabar, on Wednesday.
The military plane crashed into a residential area of Teheran on Tuesday right after taking off from Mehrabad airport. The crash was due to a technical defect in one of the engines.
The pilot tried to make an emergency landing but crashed into a building.
The death toll included 94 passengers and crew members of the crashed plane and 12 residents of the building in the Towhid complex in southwest Teheran. At least 20 people were still in hospital due to severe burns.
As most of the bodies were burnt beyond recognition, only 29 of them had so far been identified. Family members of the victims had been asked to refer to the coroner's office for identification.
Among the passengers in the plane were several reporters and photographers from the state television, the news agencies ISNA, IRNA and Fars and the newspapers Kayhan and Hamshahri who were supposed to cover a military manoeuvre in the southern Gulf port of Bandar Abbas.
- SAPA