国际英语新闻：168 people died in Iran's passenger plane crash

TEHRAN, July 15 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian passenger plane crashed on Wednesday morning near the country's northwestern city of Gazvin and all 168 people on board were killed, Iran's state TV IRIB website reported.

IRIB quoted an official of the Health Ministry Mohammad Reza Montazer Khorasan as saying that all the people on board were killed.

    The crash took place 11 minutes after take-off from Tehran's international Imam Khomeini airport and 112.7 km from the capital city.

    Among the passengers were 11 members of Iran's national adolescent Judo, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency.

Debris is seen at the crash site of the Caspian Airlines plane, which fell into farmland near the city of Qazvin, northwest of Tehran on July 15, 2009. The Iranian airliner en route to neighbouring Armenia crashed on Wednesday, killing all 168 people on board in the worst air disaster in Iran in recent years

    "It is likely that there is an Iranian Parliament (Majlis) member among the deceased passengers," IRNA quoted the Brigadier General Hassan Sajedinia, an Iranian police officer, as saying.

    The nationalities of most of the passengers were Iranian while there were some Armenians as well.

    The officials from Iran's international airport confirmed that there was no Chinese citizen among the victims.

Iranian soldiers gather at the crash site of the Caspian Airlines plane, which fell into farmland near the city of Qazvin, northwest of Tehran on July 15, 2009.

The reports are not consistent about the exact location of the air crash which happened at 11:33 a.m. (0703 GMT) on Wednesday.

    The state TV said that the crash took place near Farsian village, 6 km to the south of Gazvin city and IRNA reported that it was in the plantations near Jannatabad village not far from Gazvin city in northwestern Gazvin Province.

    Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued a statement in which he expressed his grief for the deaths and condolences for the relatives of the victims. He also urged a prompt investigation into the cause.

    The Russia-made Tupolev passenger plane had been traveling from Tehran to the Armenian capital of Yerevan, the local satellite Press TV said, adding that the plane was completely destroyed and its wreckage in flames.

    The cause of the disaster is not immediately clear, but the officials have attributed the incident to the technical problems of the airliner.

A rescuer searches among the debris of the crashed Caspian Airlines plane, which fell into farmland near the city of Qazvin, northwest of Tehran on July 15, 2009.

The Caspian Airlines, established in Iran in 1993, has harnessed the fleet which are mostly hired Tupolevs.

    The Caspian airplanes fly to the most areas of the country and the company has good share in domestic flight market. It has also introduced international direct flights to Armenia, Syria, Turkey, UAE and Ukrine.

    In the past, Iran's airlines have suffered a number of flight disasters, both civil and military use.

    Experts believe that the U.S.-imposed sanctions against Iran which prevented its allies from selling aircraft or aircraft parts to the country, "have undermined safety standards within Iran's civil and military aviation fleet and is increasing the likelihood of more major air disasters."