Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has expressed his condolences to the bereaved families of the victims of an Iranian passenger plane which crashed in the northwestern Iranian city of Orumiyeh, PressTV reported.
In his message, President Ahmadinejad instructed Minister of Roads and Transportation Hamid Behbahani and other relevant officials to immediately probe into the cause of deadly accident.
The Iranian chief executive said he was deeply saddened by the plane crash and offered his condolences to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and the Iranian nation.
At least 77 people were killed, 26 injured and two went missing when an IranAir-operated passenger plane crashed near the city of Orumiyeh, West Azarbaijan Province, Sunday night, ISNA quoted an official with Iran's Ministry of Roads and Transportation as saying on Monday.
"The plane was carrying 105 people, including 94 passengers and 11 crew members," Ahmad Majidi said.
The official added that all 26 people who were injured in the accident were transferred to hospitals in Orumiyeh and noted that one of the wounded was in critical situation.
The plane crashed near Lake Orumiyeh (700 kilometers northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran), head of Iran's State Emergency Center Gholam-Reza Masoumi said on Sunday.
The American-made Boeing 727 had taken off from Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, with a one-hour delay and was en route to Orumiyeh International Airport when the incident happened.
The plane reportedly approached the runway to land, but was forced to delay the touchdown due to severe winter weather conditions. The aircraft then disappeared from radar and went down in a farmland after making a second attempt to land.