TEHRAN, December 6 (RIA Novosti) - Fears are growing that dozens if not hundreds of people may have died in Iran after a military transport plane crashed into an apartment building in the capital, Tehran, on Tuesday. Iranian media reported that the Iranian Air Force S-130 transport plane, which had 94 passengers and crew on board, crashed into a 10-story building at 1:10 p.m.
Moscow time (10:10 a.m. GMT), eight minutes after the takeoff. The crew had reported an engine failure and requested permission to make an emergency landing at Tehran's Mehrabad airport.
Tehran police said the plane, bound for Bandarabbas in southern Iran, was carrying 84 passengers, most of whom were journalists traveling to cover military exercises, and ten crewmembers. Local authorities said all of them must have been killed.
The apartment building, which was home to 250 people, caught fire. Three firefighting units, 20 ambulances, and three rescue helicopters have been summoned to the scene, Iranian TV reported.
The crash site has been cordoned off, and rescuers are working at the scene.
In February 2003, a Russian-made Il-76 Candid plane crashed in southeastern Iran, killing 276 people, crewmembers and soldiers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
