TEHRAN (Reuters) - An Iranian military plane carrying at least 94 people crashed in flames into a Tehran apartment block on Tuesday, killing all those on board, police said.
There was no word on casualties on the ground, but a local government official said the apartment block housed about 250 people. "The lives of 250 people are at risk," he said.
A police spokesman told state radio all passengers and crew on board the C-130 transport were killed when it hit a 10-storey building in densely-populated southern Tehran.
Iranian media reported at least 94 people were on board. They quoted witnesses as saying one of the plane's wings was on fire as it came down. The pilot had reported engine trouble.
Schools were closed due to high smog levels, raising fears that more children than usual would have been at home when the plane crashed at 2.10 p.m. (1040 GMT).
The semi-official Fars news agency said at least 40 bodies had been retrieved from the crash site.
"All the people on the plane must be dead. It was horrible, all the bodies were burnt and crushed," a policeman at the scene said.
Another policeman said earlier at least one man had been alive when pulled from the wreckage of the plane. He said the man was on fire but that he and other rescuers had extinguished the flames with a blanket.
"I saw the wing of the plane hit the building, then rushed to the scene. I was the first there. I pulled 30 bodies out of the plane. They were all charred," passerby Hassan Hedayati said, his face covered in dust and hands caked in dried blood.
The official IRNA news agency said 94 people were on board the plane. Fars put the number at 106.
IRNA said the plane was bound for the southern port of Bandar Abbas and most of the passengers were local journalists who were going to cover military exercises in the region.
Iranian reporters and cameramen at the scene were weeping because they knew colleagues on board.
ENGINE TROUBLE
The pilot had reported engine trouble and requested an emergency landing at Tehran's Mehrabad international airport, police told state television.
The apartment block is in the Shahrak-e Towhid neighbourhood inhabited by members of the military and their families. It lies on the flightpath to Mehrabad airport.
"I was sitting in my shop when I saw an airplane moving in the wrong way," said a resident who gave his name as Mohsen.
"We are used to airplanes but I thought: 'Oh my God, this one is going to crash'. Then it struck the building with a big bang and smoke came pouring out," he said.
Police cordoned off the area, trying to keep back scores of anxious residents trying to push past them.
Emergency services were using helicopters, ambulances and buses to evacuate the dead and wounded. Bulldozers also arrived at the scene. Smoke was still pouring out of the building.
Military officials could not be reached for information.
In Iran's last major military air disaster, an Iranian Ilyushin-76 troop carrier crashed in the southeast of the country on February 19, 2003, killing all 276 Revolutionary Guard soldiers and crew aboard.
(Additional reporting by Alireza Ronaghi and Parinoosh Arami)
but they can't blame America for something like this. Initialy thought that it was an exaggeration as well.
And that is a reason for sanctions?? 
(note: I know this isn't a falsehood, but using it as a reason for sanctions IS a falsehood, since it's patently NOT why there are sanctions).
