08 January 2020, Wednesday, 18:06 195

Cabinet Decides To Send Search-And-Rescue Team To Iran To Investigate Cause Of UIA Plane Crash, Repatriate Bodies Of Ukrainian Victims

Редактор: Daria Zubkova

The Cabinet of Ministers has decided to send a search-and-rescue team to the site of the crash of a Ukraine International Airlines passenger airplane in Iran to investigate the causes of the crash and repatriate the bodies of the Ukrainian citizens killed in the crash.

Prime Minister Oleksii Honcharuk announced this in his Telegram channel, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"The government has just decided to send a search-and-rescue team to Iran to jointly investigate the causes of the tragedy and repatriate the bodies of dead Ukrainian citizens," Honcharuk wrote.

At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on his Facebook page that the airplane carting the search-and-rescue team would be leaving tonight and emphasized that the team included representatives of the State Emergency Service, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Security and Defense Council, the State Aviation Service, the National Bureau of Investigation of Accidents and Incidents involving Civilian Aircraft, and Ukraine International Airlines.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, a Ukraine International Airlines passenger airplane has crashed in Iran. According to preliminary reports, 176 people were killed in the crash.

Ukraine has decided to suspend the operation of flights to Iran by Ukrainian airlines until the causes of the crash are identified.