Ukrainian jet with 176 on board crashes in Tehran, no survivors

At least 167 passengers and nine crew members were killed when a Ukraine International Airlines flight crashed minutes after take-off from Tehran airport on Wednesday, according to Iran's state media.

IMAGE: Passengers' belongings are seen after the Ukraine International Airlines plane crashed after take-off from Iran's Imam Khomeini airport, on the outskirts of Tehran, on Wednesday. Photograph: Nazanin Tabatabaee/West Asia News Agency via Reuters

'All the 167 passengers and nine crew members were killed in the crash,' IRNA news agency quoted a spokesperson of the Imam Khomeini Airport as saying.

The flight had crashed near the airport in southern Tehran minutes after take-off when its engine caught fire, IRNA said.

IMAGE: A relative of a victim of the Ukraine International Airlines PS 752 plane reacts at Boryspil International Airport, outside Kiev, Ukraine on Wednesday. Photograph: Serhii Nuzhnenko/Reuters

The plane, which is reported to have been a Boeing 737, was on its way to Kiev in Ukraine from Tehran.

Pirhossein Koulivand, head of Iran's Emergency Medical Services, said on IRINN, a state-run media outlet, that emergency crews have been dispatched to the crash site between the cities of Parand and Shahriar.

IMAGE: Rescue team members and other people check the debris of the plane. Photograph: Nazanin Tabatabaee/West Asia News Agency via Reuters

As per Iran's semi-official news agency ISNA, the crash was due to technical difficulties.

The crash came hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack targeting two bases in Iraq housing United States forces in retaliation for the killing of Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani.