12 Indians among 43 dead in UAE crash

Earlier, UAE civil aviation official Ahmed Bu-Kallah confirmed that 43 people were killed. The plane was carrying 40 passengers and at least five crew.

The UAE’s official news agency WAM quoted witnesses at the scene as saying they could see 33 charred bodies. The agency said the crash occurred at 11 am and the plane fell in an area between Sharjah and the neighbouring emirate of Ajman.

Witnesses said they saw bodies being carried into ambulances. ‘‘Rescue workers piled up the bodies of 25 people. They were covered in white sheets and put in plastic bags,’’ said a witness.

A doctor at a Sharjah hospital said there were at least three survivors. Shocked relatives, some crying, watched television images of the crash at Sharjah airport.

In Iran, an official from the semi-private Kish Airline said the aircraft was a Dutch-made Fokker-50, a twin-engined turboprop plane which can carry 50 passengers and six crew.

Witnesses said only flaming bits and pieces remained of the plane, adding that rescue teams were searching the site.

‘‘Only a bit of the tail remained. It doesn’t look like many people survived,’’ one witness said. Earlier, security sources said the plane had crashed during take off. Other sources had said it was a Russian cargo jet with 35 passengers on board. Kish Airline runs domestic and some short-haul international routes to Iran’s Kish Island in the Gulf. Kish Island is a designated free trade zone and Iran is trying to promote it as a tourist destination. The UAE-Kish route is popular with immigrant workers in the UAE who need to renew their residence papers or work permits.

Iranian airlines have been plagued by air crashes in recent years which aviation experts blame on its ageing fleet of planes.

US sanctions mean Iranian companies have difficulty obtaining spare parts for their aircraft.

A Russian built Ilyushin-76M/MD military transport aircraft crashed in southern Iran last February killing all 276 military personnel on board.