Rescue teams work amidst debris after a Ukrainian plane carrying 176
passengers crashed near Imam Khomeini airport in the Iranian capital
Tehran, killing everyone on board, on January 8, 2020. PHOTO | AFP
WASHINGTON
US President Donald
Trump said Thursday he had "suspicions" about the crash of a
Ukrainian airliner outside Tehran as US media reported it had been mistakenly shot down by Iran.
Ukrainian airliner outside Tehran as US media reported it had been mistakenly shot down by Iran.
Unnamed officials told American media
that Iranian air defence systems likely accidentally shot down the
airliner Wednesday, killing all of the 176 people on board.
Newsweek,
CBS and CNN said that satellite, radar and electronic data indicated
the tragic error, which followed a ballistic missile barrage by Iran on
two military bases in Iraq where US troops work.
Trump didn't directly confirm that conclusion, but strongly hinted at it.
"I have my suspicions," Trump said. "It was flying in a pretty rough neighbourhood and somebody could have made a mistake."
"Some people say it was mechanical. I personally don't think
that's even a question," Trump said, adding that "something very
terrible happened".
Analysts pointed to pictures shared
widely online of the wrecked fuselage of the aircraft showing multiple
apparent puncture holes consistent with a rocket that detonated just
outside the plane, blasting shrapnel into it.
"Similar
marks were visible on wreckage of MH17," CNN reporter Jim Sciutto said,
referring to the Malaysian Airlines flight which was shot down only July
17, 2014 over Eastern Ukraine by a Russian-designed surface-to-air
missile.
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