ZCZC
BFF-28
UKRAINE-IRAN-AVIATION-CRASH-ACCIDENT
Bodies of Ukrainian victims of downed plane repatriated from Iran
KIEV, Jan 19, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The flag-draped coffins of the 11 Ukrainians
who died in a plane mistakenly shot down by Iran amid heightened tensions
with Washington arrived in Kiev on Sunday.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Oleksiy Goncharuk and other
officials attended the solemn ceremony at Kiev’s Boryspil airport to see the
downed plane’s nine Ukrainian flight crew and two passengers being removed
from the aircraft, according to live video footage. Ukraine International
Airlines staff, some in tears, stood on the tarmac clutching flowers.
The Kiev-bound UIA Boeing 737, crashed shortly after taking off from
Tehran on January 8, killing all 176 people on board, mostly Iranian and
Canadian citizens.
The Boeing crashed shortly after Iran launched missiles at US forces in
Iraq in response to the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a
US drone strike in Baghdad.
Tehran admitted it had mistakenly shot down the plane several days later.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1739 hrs