A Ukrainian official said Thursday the country is considering a Russian missile strike as one of several possible causes for a Ukrainian passenger plane crash that happened shortly after the flight took off from Tehran’s international airport early Wednesday morning.
“A strike by a missile, possibly a Tor missile system, is among the main (theories), as information has surfaced on the internet about elements of a missile being found near the site of the crash,” Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council, told media in the country.
Ukraine is waiting for permission from Iran to look for missile debris at the crash site.
Iranian investigators on Thursday said the black boxes that belonged to the plane have been damaged and some parts of their memory were lost.
The crash of the Ukraine International Airlines flight that was bound for Kiev Wednesday raised concerns about Iran’s transparency during the investigation. Iran blamed mechanical failure, but some have speculated that Tehran’s earlier missile assault on Iraqi bases housing American troops played a role.
All 176 people on board the flight died.
The plane’s black boxes were found amid the wreckage not far from Imam Khomeini International Airport but Iran is refusing to turn them over to Boeing or the National Transportation Safety Board. – READ MORE