Iran: Turkish business-heiress and her friends died in plane crash
All 11 people on board a Turkish private jet were killed when it crashed into a mountain in Iran yesterday during heavy rain. The passengers were Mina Basaran, daughter of tycoon Huseyin Basaran, the Chairman of Basaran Holding, and her seven friends. They were returning from her bachelorette party in Dubai. The crew were also women. Captain Melike Kuvvet was one of the Turkish military's first female pilots.
Photos from Mina Basaran's bachelorette party
Locals saw flames coming out from plane's engine before crash
The flight took off from Sharjah late yesterday afternoon and climbed up to 35,000ft. Slightly over an hour later, it rapidly gained altitude and then fell sharply within minutes, said FlightRadar24, a flight-tracking website. Locals reported seeing flames erupting from the engine before the aircraft crashed. It then hit a mountain near Shahr-e Kord and burst into flames. All the bodies were heavily burnt.
About Mina Basaran, heir to the Basaran business
Mina, who joined the company as board member in 2013, was in line to run the Basaran Holding, which deals in food, energy, finance, construction and tourism. She was also into fashion and had appeared in Vogue Turkey. Photos of the plane and her bachelorette had been posted on Mina's Instagram, where she has over 58,000 followers. She was due to marry March end.
