Iran plane crash: Turkish business heiress 'dies after UAE hen party' Published duration 12 March 2018

image copyright Reuters image caption Search-and-rescue teams found the plane's wreckage on a mountainside near Shahr-e Kord

All 11 people who were on board a private Turkish jet that crashed in south-western Iran on Sunday are dead, Iranian state media report.

The jet was flying from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Istanbul when it came down in the Zagros Mountains.

It had eight passengers, who Turkish media identified as Mina Basaran, the daughter of Turkish businessman Huseyin Basaran, and seven of her friends.

They had reportedly visited the UAE to celebrate her forthcoming marriage.

The cause of the crash is not yet known, but Iran's state news agency Irna cited an official as saying that the aircraft's "black boxes" had been recovered.

Mina Basaran, 28, flew to the UAE with her friends last week for a hen party.

image copyright Getty Images image caption Mina Basaran was reportedly on the board of Turkey's Basaran Investment Holding

On Sunday afternoon, they boarded the jet belonging to Huseyin Basaran's company, Basaran Investment Holding, at Sharjah International Airport. The two pilots and one flight attendant were also women, Turkish media said.

Data from the FlightRadar24 website shows that about 80 minutes after taking off the jet rapidly gained altitude and then dropped more than 3,050m (10,000ft) before disappearing off the radar.

The Isan news agency cited Iranian civil aviation officials as saying the pilot had requested to fly at a lower altitude due to technical problems.

image copyright AFP image caption The Iranian Red Crescent told state media that all 11 bodies had been recovered

A witness told state television that the jet was on fire before it crashed near the city of Shahr-e Kord, about 370km (230 miles) south of Tehran.

Turkey's ministry of transport said it would send a team of investigators to the scene.