Remains of 5 victims of Iran plane crash flown to Armenia

13:3418/07/2009

YEREVAN, July 18 (RIA Novosti) – The remains of five Armenian citizens
who died when an airliner crashed in Iran this week were flown to
Yerevan on Saturday.

The Tu-154 of Iran’s Capsian Airlines crashed in northern Iran on
Wednesday en route from Tehran to Yerevan, killing all 153 passengers
and 15 crew on board.

According to Iran’s Foreign Ministry, 35 ethnic Armenians died, five of
whom were Armenian citizens, as well as two Georgian citizens.

Relatives of the five victims also flew on the Caspian Airlines flight
on Saturday. First aid workers were waiting at Yerevan’s international
airport to meet them, and grieving families were to receive police
escorts for their journey home.

The three "black boxes" belonging to the aircraft have been recovered
from the crash site on a farm in the Qazvin province. The flight
recorders were badly damaged but could help investigators to identify
the cause of the accident.

Iranian authorities said on Thursday the crashed Tu-154M was built in
1987, bought by Iran in 1998, and had an overhaul certificate valid
until 2010.