No survivors in Iran plane crash, airline says

A commercial airliner has crashed in southern Iran, killing all 66 people aboard, an airline spokesman told Iran state television Sunday.

The plane carried 60 passengers, including one child, and six crew members, Iran Aseman Airlines spokesman Mohammad Taghi Tabatabai told state TV.

The plane crashed near its destination of the southern Iranian city of Yasuj, some 485 miles south of Tehran, the Iranian capital, the airline said.

The plane was identified as a model ATR-72, a twin-engine turboprop model used for short-distance regional flying.

Rescue helicopters could not land in the crash area because of heavy fog, Reuters reported. Emergency workers were trying to reach the area by land, the semi-official Mehr news agency said.

The plane disappeared from radar screens about 50 minutes after take-off from Tehran, the Reuters report said.

Under decades of international sanctions, Iran’s commercial passenger aircraft fleet has aged, with air accidents occurring regularly in recent years.

Following the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with world powers, Iran signed deals with both Airbus and Boeing to buy scores of passenger planes.

Iran Aseman Airlines is a semi-private air carrier headquartered in Tehran that specializes in flights to remote airfields across the country. It also flies internationally.

The Iranian Red Crescent said it has deployed to the area. Authorities said they would be investigating.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.