Caspian Airlines crash in Iran, 168 dead

A Tupolev Tu-154 of Caspian Airlines has crashed in north western Iran on its way to Armenia and all 168 people on board were killed, Iranian reports have said.

"On board the plane there were 151 adults, 2 children and 15 crew members," said Caspian Airline's representative Arlen Davudyan, in a Sky News report.

"15 or 16 minutes after take-off the plane fell near the Iranian city Qazvin about 150km north of Tehran," he said.

The cause of the crash is not clear and the black box was yet to be found, the representative added.

The Caspian Airlines plane was travelling from Tehran to Yerevan in Armenia.

“There was an explosion which left an indentation 10 metres deep in the ground. There was nothing we could do. We tried to put out the fire as best we could,” said a Fire Official.

Senior Iranian provincial official Sirous Saberi said the aircraft had experienced technical problems and had tried to do an emergency landing.

"Unfortunately the plane caught fire in the air and it crashed," he told semi-official Fars News Agency.

Television showed footage of debris from the plane and some body parts.

Eight members of Iran's national junior judo team and two coaches were among the dead, the semi-official Mehr News Agency said.

It was the third deadly crash of a Tupolev Tu-154 in Iran since 2002 and the deadliest in the Islamic Republic since 2003, when an Ilyushin Il-76, also Russian built, hit a mountain.

"It's been a major disaster with pieces of aircraft spread over an area of 200 square metres," a fire brigade official told state television.

Qazvin police commander Massoud Jafarinasab said: "There was an explosion which left an indentation 10 metres deep in the ground. There was nothing we could do. We tried to put out the fire as best we could.”

Television pictures also showed a large crater gouged into farmland with mangled pieces of metal scattered around.