Preliminary information from Iran indicates that there are no survivors from 168 occupants on board a Tupolev aircraft which crashed in the northwest of the country today.
Iran's state media says the Caspian Airlines aircraft had been operating flight 7908, between Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport and the Armenian capital Yerevan, with 153 passengers and 15 crew.
It had been 16min into the service when it came down, at about 11:33 in the northwestern Qazvin province, 150km northwest of Tehran.
The aircraft type is given simply as a Tupolev, but Caspian Airlines' fleet comprises Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft.
Images from the scene show that the aircraft has completely disintegrated, with evidence that the impact carved a deep crater in open land.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has issued a statement ordering the transport ministry and other relevant authorities to determine the cause of the accident "as soon as possible".
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
