Turkish heiress and seven friends killed in Iran plane crash after celebrating her hen party as pic shows her surrounded by balloons on jet
Tragic bride-to-be Mina Basaran and seven friends were killed in a plane crash in Iran as they travelled home from her hen party
A WEALTHY Turkish heiress and her seven friends were among the 11 people killed on Sunday when a private plane bringing them home from her Dubai hen party crashed in the Iranian mountains.
Owned by the private holding company of Turkish businessman Huseyin Basaran, those on board the flight included Basaran's daughter Mina, 28, and seven of her friends ahead of her wedding next month.
The plane was also carrying three crew members, an official for Turkey's transport ministry told .
A heartbreaking photo of Mina Barasan showed the bride-to-be surrounded by heart-shaped balloons on the jet.
Another photo showed her surrounded by her seven friends, all wearing robes and sunglasses, which had over 7,000 comments by Sunday evening.
The post, tagged #minasbachelorette, said it was taken at the One and Only Royal Mirage luxury hotel in Dubai.
Her father was a deputy chairman of Trabzonspor football club and one of his companies is the top shareholder in Bahrain Middle East Bank BSC, a small investment bank.
His construction projects include a series of luxury apartment blocks on Istanbul’s Asian side called “Mina Towers”, named after his daughter.
The head of the Turkish Red Crescent, Kerem Kinik, said on Twitter: "The wreck of the jet and the bodies are found.
"They will be carried down from the mountain when sun comes up. My condolences to those who lost their loved ones."
Kinik had earlier told Reuters there was “no chance” of any survivors, given the aircraft was a jet and it was flying in snowy weather, although he was unable to officially confirm fatalities.
Reza Jafarzadeh, spokesman for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, told state television the jet had crashed near the southwestern city of Shahr-e Kord.
Local residents who had reached the site of the crash said there appeared to be no survivors and victims’ bodies were burnt, ISNA news agency reported.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.