At least 15 persons died after a cargo plane crashed into a residential building near the Iranian capital Tehran on Monday, Reuters reported, quoting the Iranian Army. In a statement, the Army said that a flight engineer was the only person who survived the crash and had been taken to a hospital for treatment.
“The plane was a cargo Boeing 707 that overshot the runway during its landing,” Iran’s aviation organisation spokesperson Reza Jafarzadeh told IRIB news agency.
The plane mistakenly landed in Payam International Airport in Karaj, more than 50 km away from Tehran, reported The National. It allegedly lost control and overshot the runway.
While a spokesperson for Iran’s civil aviation department earlier said that the plane belonged to Kyrgyzstan, a spokesperson for Kyrgyzstan’s Manas airport said the it belonged to Iran’s Payam Air.
According to the Army statement, the plane was transporting meat from Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. “It exited the runway during the landing and caught fire after hitting the wall at the end of the runway,” it added.
Pirhossein Kowlivnd, head of Iran’s emergency organisation, said seven corpses have been recovered so far, Fars news agency reported. The country’s Red Crescent Society has dispatched eight rescue teams, including several ambulances and a helicopter, to the site of the crash.
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