TEHRAN - Sebuah pesawat awam terhempas ketika berlepas berhampiran lapangan terbang Mehrabad Tehran hari ini, agensi berita Iran berkata, televisyen negara melaporkan bahawa lebih daripada 40 orang terbunuh.
More than 40 people, including several children, died when a small passengers plane crashed near the Iranian capital Tehran, state media report.
The aircraft went down in a residential area close to Mehrabad airport, in the west of the city, on Sunday morning, state media said.
The plane was reportedly heading to the eastern city of Tabas.
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.
International trade sanctions were imposed after the hostage crisis which followed, during which 52 Americans were held hostage in Tehran for 444 days.
Many Iranian planes are fitted with unofficial spare parts.
There have been more than 200 accidents involving Iranian planes in the past 25 years, leading to more than 2,000 deaths.
Initial reports indicate the latest incident involved an Iran-140 jet carrying 48 people, including 40 passengers and eight crew.
The plane was said to have crashed at 9:18 local time (4:48 GMT).
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