Aseman airline crashes in Iran killing 66

The Aseman Airlines, a twin-engine turboprop, flight EP3704 en route from Tehran at 04:30 GMT, to the south-western city of Yasuj, crashed near the city of Semirom in Isfahan province an hour later.

Sixty-six people, two security guards, two flight attendants and the pilot and co-pilot were on the board are feared to have been killed in the Zargos mountains in Iran.

Although the Red Crescent deployed search and rescue, bad weather has hampered rescue efforts, as emergency teams have had to travel crash site by land rather than helicopters.

According to Iran’s civil aviation, the crashed plane, a French-Italian-made ATR 72-500 was 25 years old.