A passenger plane flying from Tehran with 66 people aboard crashed in a mountainous area in central Iran, local media reported Sunday.
The Aseman Airlines plane was headed to the southwestern city of Yasuj when it crashed in Kohangan village, 120 kilometers from Semirom town, authorities told Iran’s Fars News Agency .
An airline official said the flight departed at 7:55 a.m. local time (11.25 p.m. ET Saturday) from Mehrabad airport and disappeared from the radar shortly after that, according to Iranian state media.
The 66 people on board included 60 passengers, two flight attendants, two pilots and two members of security forces.
Twenty rescue teams have been dispatched to the crash site, with a helicopter earlier forced to turn back due to bad weather.
“This is a snow-covered mountainous area, much like the Rockies in America or the European Alps,” CNN’s Senior International Correspondent Sam Kiley said. “Any rescue operation will depend entirely on the weather.”
Developing story – more to come