77 dead in Iran Air plane crash: State media

TEHRAN: Rescuers were on Monday searching for at least one person missing after an Iran Air passenger jet crashed in bad weather in northwestern Iran killing 77 people and injuring 26, state media said.

"Unfortunately, 77 of our citizens were killed, 26 were injured who have been hospitalized and one person is reported to be missing," Iran's state television said Monday, citing a report from a police information center.

"A rescue team is searching for the missing person," the report added.

The Boeing 727 airliner crashed near the city of Orumiyeh at around 7:45 pm (1615 GMT) on Sunday, an official in West Azerbaijan province said, quoted on state television's website.

Television footage of the crash showed the airliner broken into three pieces and buried in thick snow. Some corpses were shown covered in blankets laying on snow near the plane's debris.

Iran's ISNA news agency on Monday gave the same casualty figures as state television but said two passengers are missing.

"This flight had 105 persons on board, 94 passengers and 11 flight crew. Based on the latest figures due to last night's aviation accident 77 people were killed, 26 wounded and two person are missing," the head of crisis committee of Iran's road and transportation ministry Ahmad Majidi told ISNA.

"We do not know if the two missing are among the fuselage's debris, or in hospital, or dead. We will find out about them today," he added.

Majidi said it appeared that bad weather had played a role in the crash.Read more.......

Plane Crash into pieces in Colombia Kills At Least One

A Boeing 737 airliner a passenger plane with 131 people on board split in three during a crash landing at Colombia’s San Andres island after being struck by lightning.

Police said it was a “miracle” that only one person died, apparently from heart attack and 114 people get injury.The passenger jet, operated by local airline Aires, was reportedly hit by lightning before it crashed. The crash landed at 1:49 a.m. local time at Gustavo Rojas Pinilla airport on the Caribbean resort island, the national police said in a statement.

It had flown from the Colombian capital Bogota.

'Miracle'

A police statement said the plane's fuselage had broken up into three pieces.

The pilot reported that the plane was struck by lightning, Donald Tascon, deputy director of Colombia's aeronautics authority, said."We are inspecting the remains of the plane to try to establish what the damages were and what caused the accident," he told Reuters news agency.

Of 99 passengers taken to the Amor de Patria Hospital on San Andres, only four suffered major injuries according to the hospital director, Dr Robert Sanchez.

The 68-year-old woman who died is thought to have died from a heart attack.

San Andres Governor Pedro Gallardo described it as a "miracle" that so many survived.

"We have to give thanks to God," he said.

San Andres Island, about 120 miles (190km) east of the Nicaraguan coast, is a popular tourist destination.