Photos show the devastating aftermath of the Ukraine International Airlines crash that killed 176 people

Sahar Esfandiari

Jan 8, 2020, 16:51 IST

Photos show the devastating aftermath of the Ukraine International Airlines crash that killed 176 people

Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA/Reuters

Rescue effort underway in Iran (left) and a closeup of the engine from the wreckage of the crash (right).

176 people were killed after a Ukrainian International Airlines plane crashed shortly after taking off from Iran's Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran on Wednesday morning local time.
Photos show the devastation from the aftermath of the crash in Tehran, which left no survivors.
The plane was carrying nationals from Iran, Canada, Ukraine and Britain among others, according to The Associated Press
The plane reported to have crashed is a Boeing 737-800-the previous generation of Boeing's 737 family of jets. The current generation, the 737 Max, has been grounded worldwide since March, 2019.
Ukrainian and Iranian officials said they suspected a mechanical issue was the cause for the crash, according to The Associated Press.
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A Ukraine International Airlines aircraft carrying 176 passengers and crew from Tehran to Kiev crashed shortly after it took off from Iran's Imam Khomeini airport killing everyone on board.

The plane crashed just minutes after it took off early on Wednesday morning local time, according to The Associated Press and IRNA.

Iranian rescue teams carried out operations on the ground and found no survivors but have retrieved the bodies of the dead, according to IRNA.

The Ukrainian embassy in Tehran said the crash was an accident, but has not specified what exactly happened, but according to Iran's Roads & Urban Development Ministry there was a fire in the engine before the plane crashed, as cited by BBC Monitoring.

Photos have emerged showing the devastating aftermath of the crash and the rescue efforts currently under way. A selection of pictures from the crash site can be seen below:

The devastating scenes from the aftermath of the crash show substantial debris and plane wreckage.

Deputy head of the Iran Red Crescent Ebrahim Tajik said 40 rescue teams were dispatched to the site fo the crash on the ground in southern Iran.

Rescue teams on the ground found no living survivor, but have retrieved the bodies of the dead which they say are "not in good condition," according to IRNA.

The plane was delayed for an hour at Imam Khomeini airport before taking off. When it did take off, it climbed to around 8,000 feet before issues began, according to the Associated Press.

Hassan Rezaeifar, the director of crash investigations at the Iran Civil Aviation Organization, said the plane did not declare an emergency before crashing.

Ukrainian foreign minister Vadim Prystaiko said there were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians on board as well as Swedish, Afghan and British nationals.

A photo showing one of the destroyed engines of the plane in the wreckage.

The plane was reportedly only three years old and underwent maintenance checks just two days ago.

Pirhossein Koulivand, the head of Iran's emergency services said debris and engine parts from the wreckage were spread across six miles of land.

Relatives of the victims mourn the loss of their loved ones in Ukraine as the country opens a criminal investigation into the crash to establish exactly what caused the disaster.

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