|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
Plane Crash in Iran Kills 30 Revolutionary Guards NewsMax.com Wires TEHRAN, Iran -- Iranian state television reported that a plane crashed in the capital early Monday, killing members of the elite Revolutionary Guards, including high-ranking officers, in the third military air plane crash in the last year. The plane crashed shortly after taking off from a Tehran airport for Shiraz, about 600 miles to the south, state television said. "Some 30 members of the elite Revolutionary guards and six crew members were killed in the crash while they were heading for a military site," state-run television said, reading a statement from the Guards. Two people were injured, it said. State television did not give any details on the names or ranks of the victims of the crash. Gen. Eskandar Moemeni, a deputy police chief, told reporters that 39 people had been killed, including three who died at a hospital. In January, a military Falcon, a small passenger jet, crashed in northwestern Iran, killing the commander of the ground forces of the Revolutionary Guards. In December, a U.S.-made C-130 military transport crashed into a 10-story building near Tehran's Mehrabad airport, killing 115 people. Story Continues Below
The Revolutionary Guards are separate from the regular armed forces. Founded after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, they have their own air, naval and ground components. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a former commander in the Guards. Iran has a history of aircraft accidents involving a heavy loss of life. The government has blamed a U.S. trade embargo, which makes it impossible for Iran to buy parts for its old U.S.-built aircraft. But critics have also said planes are poorly maintained.
© 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Print Page 
Forward Page 
|
| All Rights Reserved © 2012 NewsMax.Com |