Wednesday,
February 13, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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117 killed in Iranian
plane crash
A Russian Tupolev 154 commercial passenger plane sits on the runway at Uvda Air Base in the Negev Desert north of Eilat in this November 12, 2000 file picture.
— Reuters photo
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Teheran, February 12
All 117 persons on board an Iranian passenger plane were killed when the aircraft crashed into a mountain while trying to land in western Iran today, a government official said. “All 117 are dead,” said the official, declining to be identified. Those killed included four government officials and two foreigners. The Russian-built Tupolev-154, belonging to Iran Air Tours, an affiliate of the state carrier Iran Air, was flying from Teheran to Khorramabad when it disappeared off radar screens southwest of the city early today. Khorramabad lies to the east of the Zagros mountain range running along the border with Iraq. State radio said villagers in the area were startled by an explosion. Low clouds and heavily overcast skies in the city might have hampered landing, the residents said.
Reuters 
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