TEHRAN, January 14. /TASS/. The number of identified victims of the Ukraine International Airlines plane crash in Iran has reached 100, head of Tehran’s criminal prosecution Mohammad Shahriari.
"The number of victims of the Ukrainian plane crash identified due to the tireless efforts of our colleagues and forensic doctors has reached 100 people," the ISNA news agency quotes him as saying. Shahriari added that currently, the bodies of 30 passengers have been delivered to the victims’ families.
"The efforts on identifying the rest of the passengers are ongoing, the work should conclude by the end of the week," he informed.
On January 8, Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 travelling from Tehran to Kiev crashed near the Iranian capital shortly after takeoff from the Imam Khomeini International Airport. All people onboard, 167 passengers and 9 crewmembers, were killed. Most victims were Canadian and Iranian citizens. On January 11, Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff released a statement admitting the plane had been mistakenly shot down. According to Iranian Brigadier-General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, the plane was misidentified as a cruise missile by the air defense force.