A UKRAINIAN airplane carrying 176 people crashed yesterday shortly after takeoff from Tehran’s main airport, killing all on board, Iranian state TV and officials in Ukraine reported.

The plane had taken off from Imam Khomeini International Airport in the Iranian capital when a fire struck one of its engines, said Qassem Biniaz, a spokesman for Iran’s Road and Transportation Ministry. The pilot of the aircraft then lost control of the plane, sending it crashing into the ground, Biniaz said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

The Boeing 737-800 carried 167 passengers and nine crew members from different nations. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said that there were 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians on board — the Ukrainian nationals included two passengers and the nine crew. There were also 10 Swedish, four Afghan, three German and three British nationals.

China expressed deep condolences to the victims of the plane crash and extended heartfelt sympathies to their families, according to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk confirmed the death toll. On his Telegram channel later yesterday, Zelensky said he ordered the prosecutor general to launch an investigation into the crash.

“Our task is to establish the cause of the crash of the Boeing and provide all necessary help to the families of the victims,” said the Ukrainian parliament speaker, Dmytro Razumkov, in a Facebook statement.

Most of the passengers were Iranian nationals, Russia’s RIA Novosti agency reported, citing Iranian authorities. Others were from Ukraine, Canada, Germany, Britain, Sweden and Afghanistan, the online Ukrainian publication Obozrevatel reported.(SD-Agencies)