International   

29 die as Iranian plane crashlands

Atul Aneja

Jet slid off runway, catches fire after left wing hit the ground

DUBAI : A passenger plane caught fire on landing in Iran's northeastern city of Mashhad, killing 29 persons on board. The aircraft had taken off from the Iran's port city of Bandar Abbas with 147 people on board.

Iranian media reports say that scores managed to escape the disaster. The accident took place on Friday at 1.45 p.m. local time. The blaze that engulfed a major portion of the Russian built Tupolev jet was brought under control later in the afternoon.

The fire apparently started when the plane skidded off the runway following a tyre burst.

The Chairman of Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation, Nourollah Rezai Niaraki, said in a television interview that the aircraft first slid off the runway and "then its left wing hit the ground and caught fire."

All the crewmembers were unharmed, Roads and Transport Minister Mohammad Rahmati told Iran's student news agency Isna. "This will be a great help to find out the cause of the accident as soon as possible," he added.

Mashhad is a major pilgrim centre located 1,000 km northeast of Tehran.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

``I was a RAW target''
29 die as Iranian plane crashlands
Bugti laid to rest; 2 killed in protest strikes
Sri Lanka Army denies hand in vandalising statue
Colombo, London to pursue peace plan
Protection order for dog
Israeli Minister seeks war probe
Joins race for Premier
Town bans French
Cross-border terrorism to figure in talks

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu