Tehran crash: Canada's Trudeau says evidence shows plane downed by Iranian missile

Witnesses, including the crew of a passing flight, described seeing the plane engulfed in flames before the crash

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  Mourners attend a vigil at the University of Toronto for the victims of a Ukrainian passenger jet which crashed in Iran. Reuters

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  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy lays flowers to commemorate victims of the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane crash, at a memorial in Boryspil International airport outside Kiev. Reuters

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  A candlelight vigil held at the Edmonton Legislature building in memory of the victims of a Ukrainian passenger plane that crashed in Iran. Reuters

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  A woman mourns outside the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton, Alberta, during a vigil for those killed after a Ukrainian passenger jet crashed. AP

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  Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends a news conference about flight PS752 from Tehran to Kiev that crashed shortly after takeoff, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Reuters

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  A candle is placed on a table bearing photos of some of the victims of a Ukraine International Airlines passenger flight that crashed after takeoff near Tehran, Iran. AP

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  Mourners place candles and photographs outside the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton, Alberta during a vigil for those killed after a Ukrainian passenger jet crashed. AP

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  Victims of the Ukraine crash in Iran, University of Alberta professors Mojgan Daneshmand and Pedram Mousavi, pose in an undated family photo in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Reuters

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  A victim of the Ukraine International Airlines crash in Iran, Dr Parisa Eghbalian poses with her husband Dr Hamed Esmaeilion at their dentistry practice in Aurora, Ontario, Canada. Reuters

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  A man places flowers at a memorial for the victims of the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 crash in the Iranian capital Tehran, at the Boryspil airport outside Kiev. AFP

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  Photographs of student victims of a Ukrainian passenger jet which crashed in Iran are seen during a vigil at University of Toronto. Reuters

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  Victims of the Ukraine International Airlines crash in Iran, Negar Borghei and Alvand Sadeghi pose in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Reuters

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  Attendees wipe away tears during a memorial service at Western University in London, Ontario on January 8, 2020 for the four graduate students who were killed in a plane crash in Iran. AFP

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  Members of Toronto's Iranian community attend a vigil in Toronto to mourn victims of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 that crashed after takeoff near Tehran, Iran. AP

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  Flowers and candles are placed in front of the portraits of the flight crew members of the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane that crashed in Iran, at a memorial at the Boryspil International airport outside Kiev. Reuters

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says evidence shows the Ukrainian airliner that crashed in Tehran on Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board, was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile.

Citing "multiple sources, including our allies and our own intelligence," Mr Trudeau said the evidence "indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile".

Mr Trudeau said the shooting down of the jet "may well have been unintentional".

Earlier on Thursday US officials, quoted by several outlets, said they believe the Ukrainian International Airlines Boeing 737-800 was hit by a missile.

They said they had identified the signature of an anti-aircraft missile battery that was activated shortly before the aircraft crashed. They also said they had identified the infrared signature of two suspected missile launches.

“Somebody could have made a mistake on the other side," US President Donald Trump said, adding that the plane was flying in a “pretty rough neighbourhood."

“Some people say it was mechanical,” he added. “I personally don't think that's even a question."

Tehran doubled down on denying the plane had been shot down.

Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei dismissed reports that the airliner had been brought down by a surface-to-air missile as "psychological warfare against Iran".

Mr Rabiei urged Boeing to send a representative to "join the process" of investigating the aircraft's damaged flight recorders, which were recovered on Wednesday.

Iran had said it would not send the boxes to the US for inspection despite US calls for co-operation.

Oleksiy Danylov, secretary of Ukraine's national security council, said prior to the reports on Thursday the country was looking at various possible causes for the crash including a possible missile attack, a collision, an engine explosion or terrorism.

Debris at the scene where the jet crashed in Shahedshahr south-west of Tehran. AP

The incident happened early on Wednesday morning, moments after the flight took off from Tehran.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the team including search and rescue experts would be involved in the identification and repatriation of those killed. Some of the experts were also involved in the investigation of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 that was brought down over Ukraine in 2014.

Canadian as well as Ukrainian leaders have said answers must be given to questions that hang over Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752.

Mr Trudeau said his nation expects to have a role in the investigation.

“Canadians will be asking for answers and we’re there to support and find out the truth,” Mr Trudeau said as he expressed his condolences.

Of the 176 people on board, at least 63 of the passengers were Canadian citizens. Most of the passengers, 138 people, were supposed to board connecting flights to Canada, which is home to a large Iranian diaspora.

According to the initial Iranian report into the crash, the crew of a Ukrainian airliner was trying to return back to Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran when it went down.

Witnesses, including the crew of a passing flight, described seeing the plane engulfed in flames before crashing, the report said. The crash caused a massive explosion, likely to have been because the aircraft was fully loaded with fuel for its flight.

Questions have been raised over the circumstances of the crash. The plane went down just hours after Iranian ballistic missiles struck US and coalition bases in Iraq.

Aviation experts have been left grappling for answers in the wake of the crash. "To me, it has all the earmarks of an intentional act. I don't know whether it was a bomb or a missile or an incendiary device," a former Federal Aviation Administration accident investigation chief, Jeff Guzzetti, told The Washington Post.

"I just know aeroplanes don't come apart like that," Mr Guzzetti said.