Jet blaze disaster kills 168
AT LEAST 168 people were feared dead yesterday after an airliner caught fire and crashed soon after take-off.
The Russian-built Tupolev Tu-154 jet was flying from Iran to Armenia when it went down near the Iranian city Qazvin, 75 miles north of the capital Tehran.
Eight members of Iran’s national junior judo team were said to have been on the flight.
A Caspian Airlines spokesman said most of the passengers were Armenian, Georgian and Iranian.
He added: “On board were 151 adults, two children and 15 crew members.”
It was the third fatal crash of a Tupolev Tu-154 in Iran since 2002 and the worst in the country since 2003 when an Ilyushin Il-76 – also Russian-built – crashed into a mountain.