‘Deepest condolences’: Foreign officials, governments express sorrow over plane crash in Iran
Foreign officials and governments are sending messages of condolences and sorrow in the wake of the crash of a Ukrainian airline in Iran that killed all 176 passengers and crew on board Wednesday.
Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 to Kyiv crashed just minutes after takeoff from Tehran’s main airport.
The dead include 63 Canadians. Also on the flight were 82 Iranians and 11 Ukrainians, including two passengers and the plane’s nine crew. There were also 10 Swedish, four Afghan, three German and three British nationals, said Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Vadym Prystaiko.
«My heart is broken,» tweeted Andriy Shevchenko, the Ukrainian ambassador to Canada. «We will have to go through this terrible pain together with our Canadian brothers and sisters.»
«Our deepest condolences, which I have also conveyed personally to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister @VPrystaiko, on the tragic plane accident in Teheran,» tweeted Swedish Foreign Affairs Minister Ann Linde. «Our thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.»
Spoke to Foreign Minister of <a href=»https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iran?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw»>#Iran</a> Javad Zarif <a href=»https://twitter.com/JZarif?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw»>@JZarif</a>. Both expressed our condolences. Agreed to coordinate further actions of our investigation groups closely to determine the cause of the terrible plane crash <a href=»https://twitter.com/hashtag/PS752?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw»>#PS752</a> in <a href=»https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tehran?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw»>#Tehran</a>.
—@VPrystaiko
Prystaiko said he had spoken with his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif.
«Both expressed our condolences,» tweeted Prystaiko. «Agreed to coordinate further actions of our investigation groups closely to determine the cause of the terrible plane crash.»
Our deepest condolences, which I have also conveyed personally to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister <a href=»https://twitter.com/VPrystaiko?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw»>@VPrystaiko</a>, on the tragic plane accident in Teheran. Our thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.
—@AnnLinde
«We are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic crash of flight #PS752 that was headed from Tehran to Kyiv,» the German Foreign Office said in a tweet. «At this difficult time, our thoughts go out to the friends & families of the victims.»
Foreign Minister <a href=»https://twitter.com/HeikoMaas?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw»>@HeikoMaas</a>: We are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic crash of flight <a href=»https://twitter.com/hashtag/PS752?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw»>#PS752</a> that was headed from Tehran to Kyiv. At this difficult time, our thoughts go out to the friends & families of the victims.
—@GermanyDiplo
The BBC reported U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn both offered their condolences to the families of the victims at the start of Prime Minister’s questions in Parliament.
