Some 80 passengers killed as Iranian airliner catches fire: TV

At least 80 passengers were killed as an Iranian airliner caught fire on Friday while landing in the northeastern city of Mashhad, state television reported.

There were 147 passengers on board the plane, which had been on a flight from the southern port city of Bandar Abbas to Mashhad, about 1,000 km northeast of Tehran, the TV said.

A tyre of the Russian-made Tupolev burst and started the fire when the plane was landing, according to the television.

None of the Iran Airtour plane's crew members died in the fire and other passengers were evacuated, the television reported.

The fire had been kept under control and investigators had rushed to the scene, it added.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is on a tour to the northwestern province of West Azarbaijan, voiced his condolences to the families of the victims.

"The report on the crash of a passenger plane, which killed or injured a number of pilgrims to the holy shrine of the eighth Imam of Shiites depressed me," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.

"I hereby extend condolences to the dear Iranian nation and the survivors on the tragic incident," he added.

Iran has witnessed a high rate of air accidents over the years due to lack of spare parts and maintenance of aircraft, partly as a result of U.S. economic sanctions.

Source: Xinhua