Scores killed in Iran plane crash

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An Iranian passenger plane with more than 100 people on board has crashed, Iranian media have reported.

The semi-official Fars news agency said of the 105 passengers and crew on board, at least 50 had survived.

The IranAir plane was flying from the capital Tehran when it came down near the north-western city of Orumiyeh – which was its final destination.

Reports said the plane had come down in bad weather, and snow was hampering rescue efforts.

The plane crashed near Orumiyeh, 700km (430 miles) north-west of Tehran, at around 1945 local time (1615 GMT), an official in West Azerbaijan province said, quoted on Iranian state television’s website.

The official said the plane had taken off an hour later than scheduled, and came down because of bad weather conditions.

The head of Iran’s emergency services, Gholam Reza Masoumi, said he had received no reports of deaths so far.

“The problem at the moment for rescue work is the heavy snow, which is around 70cm (27 inches) deep around the crash site,” Mr Masoumi said, quoted by Fars news agency.

There have been a number of accidents involving Iranian planes over the last few years.

The last major crash was in July 2009, when a plane caught fire mid-air and crashed in northern Iran, killing 168 people.

In 2003 an Iranian troop carrier crashed in the southeast, killing all 276 soldiers and crew on board.

Iran’s civil fleet is made up of planes in poor condition due to their old age and lack of maintenance.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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