45 killed as passenger plane crashes in Tehran

45 people, six of whom are children, have reportedly been killed after an Iran-140 Sepahan Air jetliner has crashed in the vicinity of the Iranian’s capital Mehrabad airport.

State television reported that the plane crashed shortly after take off, and that the suspected cause of the crash was an engine failure.

Iran’s police chief put the death toll at 45, with three survivors. According to Tehran’s Crisis Management Bureau, five people somehow managed to jump out of the aircraft as it was crashing.

The Civil Aviation Authority said the passengers included three infants, and three children under 12 years old. There were also 34 adults, and eight crew members.

The plane was bound for Tabas in eastern Iran when it crashed just 5km west of the Iranian capital. According to eyewitness accounts, the plane appeared to lose control before taking off, and only managed a few seconds in the air before crashing to the ground.

The plane crashed into the Azad residential block on Mina 6 Boulevard, IRNA reported. State television said that at least three people in the area were taken to hospital with burns.

The incident is the latest in a series of Iranian airplane catastrophes – the majority of them blamed on the poor maintenance and outtated aircraft.  

The last major airliner crash in Iran happened in January 2011, when an Iran Air Boeing 727 broke to pieces on impact while trying an emergency landing in a snowstorm in northwestern Iran, killing at least 77 people.

In July 2009, a Russian-made jetliner crashed in northwest Iran shortly after taking off from the capital, killing all 168 on board.

In February 2003, a Russian-made Ilyushin 76 carrying members of the Revolutionary Guard crashed in the mountains of southeastern Iran, killing 302 people aboard.