Experts of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry have taken DNA samples of family members of the Ukrainian citizens killed in a plane crash near Tehran for the purpose of identifying the bodies, the Ukrainian National Police said in a statement on Thursday.

"The samples will be processed within 24 hours, and the DNA formula will be electronically transmitted to Tehran for identification purposes," the agency said in a statement on Facebook.

According to the Office of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General, who is providing procedural supervision over the inquiry into the plane crash, families of the victims were interviewed on January 9. Detectives of the National Police's Main Investigative Department acting together with prosecutors of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office conducted the interviews and took the DNA samples.

"The Prosecutor General's Office is working to arrange repatriation of the bodies to Ukraine and to establish the circumstances of the plane crash," the statement said.

As reported earlier, a Boeing 737-800 operated by UIA and traveling from Tehran to Kyiv crashed shortly after takeoff from Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran early on Wednesday morning, killing all 167 passengers and 9 crewmembers onboard.

The fatalities included 11 citizens of Ukraine (two passengers and nine crewmembers), 82 citizens of Iran, 63 of Canada, ten of Sweden, four of Afghanistan, and three citizens each of Germany and the United Kingdom.

The Prosecutor General's Office began a pretrial inquiry into the plane crash on January 8 on the counts of "violation of rules of air traffic safety or aircraft operation causing human casualties." The investigation is being carried out by the Main Investigative Department of the Ukrainian National Police.