Turkish Heiress And Friends Killed In Private Plane Crash Returning From Hen’s Party

Like many brides-to-be, Turkish heiress Mina Basaran shared snapshots of her hen’s party on Instagram with a themed hashtag.

But celebrations were cut short when the wealthy 28-year-old and her friends were among the 11 people killed when the private plane bringing them home from Dubai crashed into an Iranian mountainside on Sunday.

The plane was owned by a private holding company of her father, Turkish businessman Huseyin Basaran, and carried eight passengers and three crew, an official for Turkey’s transport ministry said.

Ms Basaran, reportedly the next in line to run his business, and seven of her friends, were all flying back from a party ahead of her planned wedding next month.

The last photo on Ms Basaran’s Instagram account showed her surrounded by seven other young women, all wearing robes and sunglasses.

The post, tagged #minasbachelorette, said it was taken at the One and Only Royal Mirage luxury hotel in Dubai.

The bride-to-be had shared other images across the weekend of her on, and getting ready to board, the jet and within hours of the crash, there were thousands of comments on the Instagram photos offering condolences.

The head of the Turkish Red Crescent Kerem Kinik said the size of the plane, and the fact it was flying in snowy weather, meant there was “no chance” of any survivors.

“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,” he wrote on Twitter, citing his Iranian sister organisation.

Reza Jafarzadeh, spokesman for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, told state television the jet had crashed near the south-western 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, INSA news agency reported, quoting Mojtaba Khaledi, spokesman for Iran’s emergency services.

ISNA earlier quoted emergency services as saying the wreckage was burning and was clearly visible.

Mr Basaran, a former deputy chairman of Trabzonspor football club, owns businesses that span yachts to energy.

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.