Plane fire toll put at 28

TEHRAN - An Iranian airliner caught fire after a tyre burst on landing at an airport in the northeast of the country on Saturday, killing 28 of 148 aboard.

Roads and Transport Minister Mohammad Rahmati told state television from the city of Mashhad, where the accident happened, that the death toll was 28 and that 30 passengers had been taken to hospital. He said 11 members of the crew had survived.

"The cause of the accident is being investigated," he said.

Television pictures showed a broken-up plane with parts of its fuselage charred. The cockpit appeared largely unaffected by the fire, as did much of the rear portion of the aircraft.

"The plane was going up and down when we were trying to land," one of the passengers told state TV from his hospital bed. "When we landed, I heard a huge sound from underneath the plane. The plane leaned to one side and started sliding on the ground and then a fire started from the front of the plane."

The plane, an Iranairtour Russian-built Tupolev 154, caught fire at 1.45pm after slipping off the runway when a tyre burst on landing at Masshad, site of Iran's holiest shrine.

- REUTERS