A military cargo plane that overshot a runway, crashed and caught fire in Iran killed 15 people, the army said Monday, January 14.
The plane was carrying meat from Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan when it crashed near the capital Tehran, the army said in a statement, adding that “13 of the plane’s personnel were killed.”
“The plane had 16 passengers, 14 of whom were the army crew and two were civilians; 15 were martyred,” spokesperson Amir Taghikhani said. “One, the flight engineer, was injured and is currently in hospital.”
The Fars news agency, considered close to the military, earlier said there were 16 people onboard and that only the flight engineer had survived the crash about 40 km (25 miles) west of Tehran.
State broadcaster IRIB earlier said there were 10 people on the plane, without confirming any casualties.
“A [Boeing] cargo 707 place carrying meat took off from Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan and had an emergency landing at Fath airport this morning,” the army said in a statement on its website.
The plane was attempting to land at Payam International Airport when it accidentally tried to land at the smaller airport and skidded off the runway, Fars reported.
Fath airport is in Alborz province, just northwest of Tehran.
“It exited the runway during the landing and caught fire after hitting the wall at the end of the runway,” the army statement said.
State broadcaster IRIB showed footage of burning wreckage, while several agencies showed teams of rescue workers around the charred fuselage.
The Boeing 707 is a mid-sized aircraft built by Boeing from the late 1950s until 1979. Iran, which largely unable to purchase aircraft in the international market due to U.S. sanctions, is one of the last countries to operate the outdated aircraft.
With reporting from AFP