Remains of Iran Crash Victims Are Returned to Ukraine

Footage provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Office shows the remains of 11 Ukrainians who died when a plane was shot down in Tehran earlier this month arriving in Kyiv, Sunday, January 19.
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READ MORE: President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, and other senior Ukrainian officials participated in a solemn ceremony after the 11 flag-draped coffins arrived in the Ukrainian capital carrying the bodies of nine Ukrainian International Airlines crew members and two passengers killed along with 165 other people when Flight PS752 went down on January 8.

Dozens of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) staff members gathered at the airport's passenger terminal to welcome the remains carrying in a convoy of hearses.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard accidentally shot the UIA plane down shortly after it took off from Tehran on January 8, killing all 176 people on board.

Iranian officials initially said the crash was caused by a technical problem and invited countries that lost citizens to help investigate.

Three days later, Iran admitted responsibility after Western leaders said there was strong evidence the plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile.

Iranian officials have said that air defenses on high alert during heightened tensions after Iranian missile strikes made an error and fired antiaircraft defenses at the Boeing 737-800.

Ukrainians and officials from the four other countries that lost nationals in the disaster have demanded a "thorough, independent, and transparent" investigation.

Now, the Iranian official who is leading the investigation for Tehran has appeared to backtrack on a pledge to share the crucial black boxes that were collecting flight data aboard the aircraft.

Hassan Rezaifer, head of the accident investigations unit of Iran's civil aviation authority, was quoted on January 19 by the state-run IRNA news agency as saying "the flight recorders from the Ukrainian Boeing are in Iranian hands and we have no plans to send them out,” AP reported. (AP/RFE/RL)
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