Most Victims of Ukrainian Aircraft Downing Identified

The number of victims from the plane crash near Tehran that have been identified so far has reached 100 people. Several individuals have been arrested in connection with this tragedy. According to one news agency, people are in mourning and even going to cinemas less frequently.

About a week after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps missile struck a Ukrainian passenger plane, killing 176 people, the consequences of this tragedy remain at the top of the news agenda for many media outlets and news agencies worldwide.

Several media organizations and political and social activists within the country have not forgotten this incident and, through the publication of statements or reports on the matter, address its painful effects.

A number of Iranian government institutions are also dealing with the consequences of the incident. On Tuesday, 24 Dey (January 14), the head of Tehran’s criminal prosecution office announced that the coroner’s office has so far identified one hundred victims.

According to Mohammad Shahriiari, the bodies of 30 of the deceased have been handed over to their families. He suggested that the process of identifying the remaining victims would likely continue through the end of the week.

On Tuesday morning, Judge Shahriiari said that the bodies of 61 victims have been prepared for delivery to their families.

Shahriiari stated in this regard: “Special efforts were made to collect all remaining pieces at the scene of the air disaster and to reconstruct bodies, that is, to place body parts together to obtain a complete body.”

Decline in Cinema Revenue

On Tuesday, the ILNA news agency reported that a review of film sales figures shows that between the 1st and 12th of Dey, Iranian cinema revenue experienced a 50 percent decline.

This semi-official news agency, citing Mohammad Ghasid Ashrafii, head of the Iranian Cinema Association, writes that following the killing of Qasem Soleimani by the United States military and the crash of the passenger plane, and also the announcement of responsibility for this incident, “a situation was created in society that had a direct impact on cultural and artistic activities and especially on film sales.”

Ashrafii told ILNA that after the announcement of Soleimani’s death, cinema sales declined, but “after the announcement of responsibility for the plane crash and after several days of cinema closures, this sales decline occurred again to the extent that approximately 30 percent of cinema hall sales declined compared to the previous week and before the incident.”

Arrest of “Perpetrators”

According to the spokesman of the Islamic Republic’s judiciary, the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff has formed special commissions to investigate the dimensions of the passenger plane downing case.

The “Mizan” news agency, affiliated with the judiciary, wrote, quoting Gholamhosein Esmaili: “Extensive investigations have been conducted and individuals have also been detained.”

President Rouhani called the missile strike on the passenger plane “a very painful and unforgivable human error” and requested the formation of “a special court with a senior judge and several experts” to investigate its dimensions.

He emphasized: “The whole world is watching this court.”

Source: DW