A Boeing 727 IranAir aircraft has crashed in a lake close to Orumieh airport in West Azerbaijan province. The aircraft, flying from Tehran to Orumieh, was unable to land at the airport due to severe weather and crash landed nearby. Some 70 are reported to have died and many of the remaining 105 passengers and crew injured.
"According to our initial reports, the plane has crashed near the village of Termani in the southern coast of Orumieh lake,” said Iran's IRNA state news agency. “According to the reports we have received the plane was trying to land in Orumieh airport, but because of the bad weather conditions it did not succeed and went away from the airport for a second try, but it suddenly disappeared from the radars."
Mojtaba Khaledi, an official in Iran's emergency services, said: "Among those we have rescued at this moment, 10 people are in critical situation, but we still don't know how many people have died in the crash. Thirty-six ambulances are dispatched to the area and 11 hospitals are ready to receive the injured people.