Many are feared dead in a plane crash in the Zagros Mountains in Iran.

However, early reports that all 66 people on board had been confirmed dead have been withdrawn. Severe weather and difficult terrain have prevented rescue services from reaching the scene of the accident.

The plane had 60 passengers and 6 crew members when it disappeared over the Zagros Mountains in bad weather on Sunday morning.

The likelihood of anyone surviving the crash is slim. Representatives for the airline Aseman initially said that hope was lost of finding survivors, but that claim has since been denied.

"Given the circumstances prevailing in the region, we have still not been able to find the crash site, therefore we cannot say with certainty that there are no surviving passengers," airline spokesman Mohammad Tabatabaie told the Isna news agency.

According to information provided to the IRNA news agency by the aid organization Red Crescent, a drone has been sent to try to locate the plane wreckage. 120 people from 30 different rescue teams are also trying to reach the area where the plane is believed to have crashed.

The flight was reportedly en route from the capital Tehran to Yasuj, a city with up to 150,000 inhabitants in southern Iran.

Last year was a landmark year for aviation safety – not a single fatality worldwide in accidents involving large commercial aircraft. But 2018 has started dismally, with two crashes in just one week.

Last weekend, an Antonov from Saratov Airlines crashed shortly after takeoff from Moscow, killing all 71 people on board.

Because Iran has had partially restricted trade relations with the outside world for decades, the Iranian aircraft fleet is aging. The Aseman airline's fleet includes at least three aircraft of the same model as the accident plane, which are more than 20 years old.

Source: TT