A Ukrainian Boeing that crashed in Tehran caught fire even before a collision with the ground, a report by the Iranian civil aviation organization said.

According to eyewitnesses, the fire was visible on the plane and spread over its fuselage, RIA Novosti reported referring to a document.

The flight path of the liner indicates that after a malfunction a crew turned it back to the airport, while the pilots did not report an emergency on board.

The tragedy occurred the previous morning: the Boeing 737-800 of Ukraine’s International Airlines, flying to Kyiv, crashed shortly after departure from the airport in Tehran: 176 people were killed. According to preliminary data, the engine accident became the cause of the crash.