Canadian PM says Iranian missile brought down airliner
Ottawa: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday "multiple" intelligence sources indicate that Iran shot down a Ukrainian airliner after it took off from Tehran, killing all 176 on board, including 63 Canadians.
Trudeau's comments came as images posted on social media increasingly pointed to a catastrophic mistake by Tehran's air defense batteries bringing the down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 in flames Wednesday.
Citing information from allies as well as Canada's own intelligence, the prime minister said the plane appeared to have been hit by an Iranian surface-to-air (SAM) missile. "We know this may have been unintentional. Canadians have questions, and they deserve answers," Trudeau told reporters.
The prime minister was backed by other Western leaders, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson who said mounting evidence supported a missile strike, which "may well have been unintentional." US President Donald Trump indicated that Washington officials believed the Kiev-bound Boeing 737 was struck by one or more Iranian missiles before it ditched and exploded outside Tehran.
Flight PS752 went down just minutes after takeoff from Tehran airport in the dark early Wednesday, with no radio message from the pilot to indicate distress, according to the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization.
It was carrying 82 Iranians, 63 Canadians, 11 Ukrainians, 10 Swedes, four Afghans, three Germans and three Britons. The disaster unfolded amid worries of a possible war between the United States and Iran, just hours after Tehran launched ballistic missiles at American military targets in Iraq in retaliation for the January 3 US drone strike in Baghdad that killed a top Iranian general.
The Iranian government said the missile strike scenario made "no sense," however, arguing that several internal and international flights had been sharing approximately the same airspace.
Tehran later asked Ottawa to share its information with Iranian investigators. Trudeau said Canada was working with allies to ensure a credible probe takes place. "The families of the victims want answers, Canadians want answers, I want answers," he said. "That means closure, transparency, accountability, and justice. This government will not rest until we get that." Johnson called Thursday for a full, transparent investigation.
"It is vital that there should be an immediate and respectful repatriation of those who've lost their lives to allow their families to grieve properly," the British leader said. "The UK continues to call on all sides urgently to deescalate to reduce tensions in the region." Trump would not directly confirm what US intelligence was saying privately.
"I have my suspicions," Trump said. "It was flying in a pretty rough neighborhood and somebody could have made a mistake." "Some people say it was mechanical. I personally don't think that's even a question," he said, adding that "something very terrible happened." But unnamed officials told US media satellite, radar and electronic data indicated Tehran's air defense units downed the aircraft.
ABC News reported that an unnamed official said it was "highly likely" the plane was brought down by two SAMs. Ukraine called for United Nations support for a broad investigation, and sent 45 crash investigators to Tehran to take part in the inquiry led by Iranian authorities.
Investigators are pursuing several possibilities, including engine failure, a missile strike or an act of terror. "If any country has information that can help conduct a transparent and objective investigation into the tragedy, we are ready to receive it and cooperate in further verification," the Ukraine presidency said in an English-language statement.
Ali Abedzadeh, head of Iran's civil aviation organization and deputy transport minister, said Iran and Ukraine were "downloading information" from the aircraft's black boxes retrieved from the crash site. But if more specialized work is required to extract and analyze the data, we can do it in France or another country," he said.
Analysts were examining photographs posted online of the wreckage and a private video apparently taken of the flight when it was struck for evidence that it was downed by a missile. The New York Times said it had verified the video showing a small explosion apparently when a missile struck the aircraft.
"I think this has a very good possibility of being accurate," John Goglia, a former US aviation safety expert on the National Transportation Safety Board, said of the missile theory. "Airplanes that have just taken off and have made a climb to 8,000 feet, that's entering the safest period of time in the flight. So even an engine failure at that altitude should not cause the type of event we've just observed," he told AFP.
The Ukrainian airline crash brought back memories of another tragedy involving a US military error. In 1988, an Iran Air flight was shot down over the Gulf by a surface-to-air missile fired from the US warship USS Vincennes. All 290 people aboard, most of them Iranians, were killed, sparking outrage across the country.
The US Navy had mistaken the aircraft for an Iranian fighter jet.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
