All 168 people on board an Iranian passenger plane bound for neighbouring Armenia were killed yesterday when the Russian-built aircraft smashed into farmland north-west of Tehran, gouging out a 10-metre deep crater and spraying smouldering wreckage over a wide area.
Local television broadcast harrowing footage from the crash site of items of scorched clothing, footwear and surprisingly pristine identity papers of those who perished. Their number included two children and eight members of Iran's national junior judo team.
Iran has suffered a number of aviation disasters over the past two decades but this was the first in three years and the worst in six. Because of 30-year-old US sanctions, Iran has supplemented its existing fleet of ageing western aircraft with mainly Russian-built planes. These are not subject to the American boycott but many of them also left their factories long ago.
The 22-year-old Tupolev 154 exploded after plummeting from the sky and hitting the ground near a picturesque village outside the city of Qazvin shortly before noon. It was just 16 minutes after Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 took off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini international airport.
It was bound for the Armenian capital, Yerevan, carrying 153 passengers and 15 crew members. The cause of the crash was not known and its black box had yet to be found last night. But several witnesses saw the aeroplane's left engine on fire in mid-air. Some said it had circled before crashing, apparently desperately trying to find a suitable emergency landing site near the village of Jannat Abad, 120km north-west of Tehran. Armenian television reported that the crash was caused by an engine fire.
"I saw the plane when it was just above the ground. Its wheels were out and there was fire blazing from the lower parts," said Ablofazl Idaji, an Iranian eyewitness.
Qazvin's police commander, Massoud Jafarinasab, said: "The Tupolev plane has been totally destroyed and the corpses, unfortunately, have been totally burnt and destroyed. All on board are dead."
Distraught relatives gathered at Yerevan airport where a noticeboard listed those they had expected to hug soon in happy reunions, but who were already dead. An Armenian official said of the 153 passengers that 147 were Iranian, of whom 31 were of Armenian origin. Two Georgian citizens were also among the dead. Iran is home to some 100,000 ethnic Armenians, many of whom frequently use the flights between Tehran and Yerevan to visit relatives.
A spokesman for Iran's Aviation Authority, Reza Jafarzadeh, said no irregularities were reported before the plane took off and insisted no aircraft would be allowed to take flight unless it had been checked rigorously by maintenance workers. State radio said the pilot had not mentioned any technical problem in a taped conversation with a control tower.
This was the third fatal crash of a Tupolev 154 in Iran since 2002 and the deadliest air disaster in the country since 2003 when a Russian-built Ilyushin-76 troop carrier crashed in south-eastern Iran, killing all 276 Revolutionary Guard forces and crew aboard.
The Tupolev 154, which is similar in size and structure to a Boeing 727, is mostly in service in countries of the former Soviet Union but is not allowed to fly over Europe because its engines are too loud.
Air safety has long been a political issue in Iran, with officials blaming US sanctions for the high frequency of crashes. Boeing Co, the US aircraft manufacturer, has not exported a plane to Iran since 1979. Sanctions have also hampered efforts to buy spare parts for US planes bought earlier or to acquire European planes powered by US-built engines such as Airbus airliners. Iranian pilots have been known to smuggle home spare parts bought during trips to Europe in their cockpits.
American sanctions, however, do not apply to aircraft from Russia or Ukraine and Iran is starting joint ventures with both countries to rebuild its civil aviation fleet. Caspian Airlines, based in Tehran, was established in 1993 and flies an all-Tupolev fleet linking Iranian cities. It also has routes to the UAE, Ukraine and Armenia. Aviation experts said the small, private company has a relatively good safety record.
The Iranian authorities are sensitive to domestic criticism that they are not doing more to maintain or replace ageing aircraft and yesterday's tragedy will increase such concerns. In December 2005, a group of parliamentarians sought the dismissal of the defence minister after a military C-130 transport plane, bought from the US three decades earlier, crashed into a 10-storey apartment building shortly after taking off from Tehran's Mehrabad airport.
It was carrying scores of journalists to cover military exercises in the south of the country. Ninety-four people died on board and at least 22 more were killed on the ground as flaming wreckage rained onto the streets. Some newspapers and the families of victims claimed that officials knew before take-off that the plane had technical problems.
The following September, 29 people were killed when a Russian-built Tupolev 154 crash-landed on an airport runway in the north-eastern Iranian city of Mashhad and burst into flames. Another 43 people were injured. Two months later, in November 2006, a Russian-designed Antonov-74 military plane crashed on take-off at Tehran's Mehrabad airport, killing all 39 people on board, including 30 members of the elite Revolutionary Guards.
@Email:mtheodoulou@thenational.ae
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Company%C2%A0profile
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Company%20Profile
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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'Falling%20for%20Christmas'
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Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Sui Dhaaga: Made in India
Director: Sharat Katariya
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav
3.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
