302 Iranian Soldiers Die in Plane Crash

20/02/2003| IslamWeb

An Iranian military plane carrying 302 members of the elite Revolutionary Guards crashed in the mountains of southeastern Iran on Wednesday, killing all on board in the country's worst plane crash ever, state-run media reported. The plane was en route from Zahedan, on the Pakistan border, to Kerman, about 500 miles southeast of Tehran, state-run Tehran television reported. It crashed in a mountainous area about 20 miles from its destination.

The Russian-made Antonov airliner operated by Iran's military lost contact with the control tower at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the reports.

The official Islamic Republic News Agency said rescuers had reached the crash site and that all 302 people on board had been killed, making the crash the deadliest in Iran's history. The death toll surpassed the 290 killed on July 3, 1988, when an Iran Air A300 Airbus was shot down over the Persian Gulf by the USS Vincennes.

State television and radio did not offer reasons for the crash and did not address the possibility of terrorism. There was heavy snowfall in many parts of Iran on Wednesday, including in Zahedan, which hadn't seen snow in three years.

Wednesday's crash was the latest in a string of air disasters in Iran mostly involving Russian-built aircraft.

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At least 270 people aboard an Iranian military plane were killed February 19, 2003 when it crashed in southeastern Iran, state media reported. The official IRNA news agency said all the fatalities were members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. (Reuters Gr