Cyprus-Forum.com

[EPSILON]

Up to 169 aboard feared killed in Iran plane crash


TEHRAN (Reuters) - A passenger aircraft crashed in northwestern Iran on Wednesday and up to 169 people on board were feared killed, ISNA news agency reported.

"153 passengers along with 16 crew were on the plane that crashed," ISNA said, without giving a source.

Earlier Iranian state television said that all 150 people on board had been killed.

The Caspian Airlines aircraft was traveling from Tehran to Yerevan in Armenia when it came down at 11:33 a.m. (0703 GMT) near the city of Qazvin, the official IRNA news agency said.

Iran's English-language Press TV said in a scrolling news headline, "150 people on board crashed Iran plane believed dead."

A fire brigade official earlier told IRNA that everyone on board was killed. IRNA quoted an Iranian aviation spokesman as saying a the plane crashed 16 minutes after take-off from the capital's Imam Khomeini International airport.