Police aircraft crashes in southeastern Iran, kills seven

An Iranian police airplane has reportedly crashed in the southeastern city of Zahedan, leaving all seven people on board dead.

The Turbo Commander light aircraft went down in the Sabzpoushan mountainous area in Zahedan, the capital of Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan on Saturday, IRNA reported.

According to the report, the airplane was on its route from the capital, Tehran, to Zahedan where the incident happened. The victims include three senior officers, a police employee and three crew members.

IRNA quoted an unnamed source as saying that the passengers on board were heading to Zahedan for an investigation into the recent slaying of four Iranian police officers by armed bandits in the city of Saravan in the same province.

The wreckage of the aircraft has been found in Sabzpoushan. However, the cause of the fatal incident is still unknown.

Local officials have not made any comments on the plane crash so far.