A Ukrainian passenger jet, which crashed shortly after takeoff in Tehran, Iran, is believed to have been shot down, possibly accidentally, by an Iranian missile.
The plane was seen to be on fire before plummeting to the ground, with all 176 people on board killed.
Both Canadian and British officials have said “evidence indicates it is “highly likely” that an Iranian anti-aircraft missile downed the Kiev-bound Ukrainian airliner”, reports Sky News:
Iran denies the reports, with government spokesman Ali Rabiei describing it as a “psychological warfare against Iran”, according to state TV…
The deadly crash came hours after Iran launched a ballistic attack against Iraqi military bases housing US troops in retaliation to a US drone strike that killed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general.
Footage obtained by Sky News shows the moment the plane came down:
This is believed to be the moment a Ukrainian passenger plane came down in Iran.
Read more: https://t.co/oNJZ4EtxnK pic.twitter.com/wWfs0UWAE2
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 9, 2020
There are some additional angles in the video below:
US officials also suspect Iranian involvement, reports the BBC:
CBS News quoted US intelligence sources as saying a satellite detected infrared “blips” of two missile launches, followed by another blip of an explosion…
US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he had “suspicions” about what happened to the plane…
Here’s Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau:
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau says “evidence indicates” the Ukrainian passenger jet was “shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile”, adding that it “may well have been unintentional”.
Latest on this story here: https://t.co/71WKZENIBw pic.twitter.com/hkGL90iADm
— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 10, 2020
Whatever, or whoever, was the cause for the plane going down, 176 lives were lost in the tragedy, and some of their stories are nothing short of gutwrenching.
