46 injured as Iran plane catches fire

An Iranian passenger plane caught fire while landing in the north-eastern city of Mashhad on Sunday,injuring at least 46 people on board,state television reported. Iranian officials told local news networks that the rear end of the Russian-built Tupolev 154 plane owned by Taban Airline caught fire as the aircraft was landing at Mashhad airport.

“The plane caught fire while landing,” state television quoted Javad Erfanian,head of disaster management of Khorasan Razavi province of which Mashhad is the capital,as saying.

“Forty-six people have been injured,but most of them are not serious,” he said,adding that emergency services evacuated the passengers after which the rear end of the aircraft broke up. The plane was travelling from Abadan in southwest Iran to Mashhad and had 157 passengers on board. Erfanian said the plane also had 13 crew members on board.