A Ukrainian airliner crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran early on Wednesday, bursting into flames and killing all 176 people on board, Reuters reports. Among the victims were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, three Germans and three Britons, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said. It was the Kiev-based carrier’s first fatal crash, and it said it was doing everything possible to establish the cause. Under international rules, responsibility for investigating the crash lies with Iran, and Iranian state television said both of the plane’s black box voice and data recorders had been found. Relations between Washington and Tehran are in crisis, with Iran having launched missiles at bases housing U.S. forces in Iraq hours before the plane crash, in retaliation for a U.S. drone strike last week that killed an Iranian military commander.

Source: Punch January 08, 2020 13:52 UTC