Tehran (Agencies): A Ukraine International Airline's Boeing 737 crashed shortly after take-off from Iran’s Imam Khomeini airport killing 176 passengers and crew aboard, Iran’s state news agency IRINA reported.
The plane reportedly had technical difficulties stemming from its engine.
Flight data from the airport showed a Ukrainian 737-800 flown by Ukraine International Airlines took off Wednesday morning, then stopped sending data almost immediately afterward, according to website FlightRadar24. The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said there were no survivors.
"My sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of all passengers and crew," Zelenskiy said in a statement, adding that Ukraine was seeking to establish the circumstances of the crash and the death toll.
The Ukrainian president warned against speculation about the crash.
"I ask everyone to keep from speculating and putting forth unconfirmed theories about the crash," he wrote on Facebook, as he cut short a vacation in Oman and flew back to Ukraine.
The plane was carrying 82 Iranian and 63 Canadian nationals, a Ukrainian minister said. The Boeing 737 was also carrying 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three Britons, Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko wrote on Twitter.
According to air tracking service FlightRadar24, the plane that crashed was Flight PS 752 and was flying to Kiev. The plane was three years old and was a Boeing 737-800NG, it said.
The model's twin engines are made by CFM International, a US-French venture co-owned by General Electric and Frances Safran.
Modern aircraft are designed and certified to cope with an engine failure shortly after take-off and to fly for extended periods on one engine. However, an uncontained engine failure releasing shrapnel can cause damage to other aircraft systems.
A spokesman for Boeing said the company was aware of media reports of a plane crash in Iran and was gathering more information. The plane manufacturer grounded its 737 MAX fleet in March after two crashes that killed 346 people.
The 737-800 is one of the worlds most-flown models with a good safety record and which does not have the software feature implicated in crashes of the 737 MAX.
Under international rules overseen by the United Nations, Iran is responsible for leading the crash investigation.
Ukraine would be involved and the United States would usually be accredited as the country where the Boeing jet was designed and built. France, where the engine maker CFM has half its activities, may also be involved.
