DHAKA: Forty-eight people were killed when a small passenger plane crashed in the west of the Iranian capital Tehran, according to Iranian state TV.

The aircraft, which was heading to the eastern city of Tabas, went down in a residential area near Mehrabad airport on Sunday morning, state media said.

Passengers included five children, Iran's aviation authority said.

Iran has suffered a series of plane crashes, blamed on its ageing aircraft and poor maintenance record.

Iran is still flying planes bought before the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Initial reports indicate the latest incident involved an Iran-140 jet carrying 48 people, including 40 passengers and eight crews.

The Iran-140 Sepahan Air jetliner had barely left the airport, as it crashed shortly after take off, on the outskirts of the capital at 09:45 (0515 GMT) on Sunday, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.

Some 50 passengers and crew are rumored to have been aboard the plane, according to reports. Later reports claimed that the bodies of 10 of the dead passengers have been extracted from the debris.

Source: BBC, farnews.com

BDST: 1532 HRS, AUG 10,2014