- The Ukrainian International Airlines Boeing 737 jet came down just minutes after take-off from Tehran today
- President Volodymyr Zelensky said there were no survivors among the 168 passengers and nine crew
- Ukraine’s foreign ministry revealed there were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and three Britons on flight PS752
- Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau vowed to ensure that the crash was ‘thoroughly investigated’
- Iran said an engine had caught fire and video appeared to show the plane already on fire as it fell from the sky
- The plane was less than four years old and had been checked just two days earlier, the Ukrainian airline said
- It crashed hours after Iran attacked US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of Qassem Soleimani
- Experts struggled to explain it with one group saying starting assumption should be an MH17-style event
Justin Trudeau has today vowed to get answers after 176 people including 63 Canadians died in a plane crash near Tehran, with Iran blaming an engine fire but refusing to hand over the recovered black boxes.
The Boeing 737 jet came down just minutes after take-off from Imam Khomeini International Airport early this morning, sparking fresh alarm in the Middle East hours after Iran launched missile strikes on US bases.
Three Britons and 63 Canadians were among the 168 passengers and nine crew on board the Ukrainian International Airlines flight to Kyiv. There were no survivors.
Today the Canadian PM offered his ‘deepest condolences’ to the victims’ families and vowed to ‘ensure that this crash is thoroughly investigated, and that Canadians’ questions are answered’. The US promised ‘complete co-operation’ with the probe.
Iran has pointed the finger at ‘technical difficulties’ and says the pilot lost control after an engine caught fire in mid-air, but Tehran is refusing to say what will happen to the black boxes.
Video footage appeared to show the plane already burning before it fell out of the night sky, while pictures at the crash site showed the fuselage peppered with mysterious holes.
The Boeing plane was less than four years old and had been checked just two days earlier, with ‘one of our best crews’ manning the aircraft, the Ukrainian airline said.
The disaster will heap further pressure on Boeing which was thrown into crisis by two plane crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 which killed a combined 346 people – especially if Iran’s claims are proved true.
French jet engine manufacturer CFM said any speculation about a technical failure was ‘premature’, while the Ukrainian embassy in Iran initially ruled out a missile strike but later backtracked.
Aviation experts were at odds today as they struggled to explain the disaster, with some saying a shoot-down was unlikely while others said an MH17-style event should be the starting assumption.
The crash sparked fresh fears in the Middle East, which is on high alert after Qassem Soleimani was killed last Friday, and a series of airlines have today announced they will stop flying over Iranian airspace.
The Ukrainian foreign ministry revealed there were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and three Britons on flight PS752, along with 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans and four Germans.
The three British victims were later named as businessman Mohammad Reza Kadkhoda-Zadeh, 40, and engineers Saeed Tahmasebi Khademsadi, 35, and Sam Zokaei, 42.
Canada is home to a large Iranian diaspora community and UIA offers discount flights between Tehran and Toronto, with a transit in Kiev.
Pieces of debris are seen lying at the crash site in a picture released by an Iranian news agency today, showing what appeared to be holes in the fuselage of the Boeing aircraft 
A woman shows her emotions at Boryspil International Airport in Kyiv where the doomed plane was headed