Iran plane crashes into building, 116 dead
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-12-07 06:52

Emergency services used helicopters, ambulances and buses to evacuate the dead and wounded. Cranes were brought in to clear the wrecked fuselage.

All passengers and crew on board an Iranian plane that crashed on Tuesday were killed when it hit a 10-storey building in Tehran, a police spokesman told state radio. [Reuters]

Iran has a poor airline safety record following a string of air disasters in the past 30 years although most have involved Russian-made aircraft.

U.S. sanctions have prevented Iran from buying new aircraft or spares from the West, forcing it to supplement its fleet of Boeing and Airbus planes with aircraft from former Soviet Union countries.

In Iran's last major military air disaster, an Iranian Ilyushin-76 troop carrier crashed in the southeast of the country on February 19, 2003, killing all 276 Revolutionary Guard soldiers and crew aboard.