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Tehran – An Iranian commercial aircraft carrying 66 people crashed, killing everyone on board, on Sunday in southern Iran, a semi-official news agency reported.
A spokesperson for Iran's Aseman Airlines has told state TV that an airplane crash in southern Iran has killed all 66 people who were on board.
Mohammad Taghi Tabatabai spoke to state TV on Sunday. He says the flight carried 60 passengers, including one child, and six crew members.
He says the plane crashed in Mount Dena, which is some 440 metres tall.
The ATR-72, a twin-engine turboprop used for short-distance regional flying, went down near the remote mountain town of Semirom, some 620km south of the capital, Tehran.
Ageing aircraft fleet
Fars news agency said the plane was flying from Tehran to the southern Iranian city of Yasuj, some 780km south of the Iranian capital.
Aseman Airlines is a semi-private air carrier headquartered in Tehran that specialises in flights to remote airfields across the country. It also flies internationally.
The Iranian Red Crescent said it has deployed to the area, which was quite foggy at the time of the crash. Authorities said they would be investigating.
Under decades of international sanctions, Iran's commercial passenger aircraft fleet has aged, with air accidents occurring regularly in recent years.
Following the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers, Iran signed deals with both Airbus and Boeing to buy scores of passenger planes.
??????? 66 ???????? ??????? ???????? ????? ?????? ???????? ?????? ??? ????? ???? ?????? ????? ??????? ??????? ?????????? ???? ??????. ???? ??????????? ???? ???. #Iran #PlaneCrash #Tehran pic.twitter.com/0CPCNr2hNa
— chitralekha (@chitralekhamag) February 18, 2018
