At least 40 passengers are feared dead in a passenger plane crash near Mehrabad airport in Teheran. Iran’s state news agency IRNA quoting fire service spokesman said that all the passengers are dead. It said that the plane belonging to Taban Airlines was flying to Tabas from Teheran and crashed shortly after take-off this morning around 9.18 am local time. An official statement is still awaited.

There are conflicting reports about the number of passengers on the turboprop Antonov An-140 aircraft. Iranian state TV said the plane with 48 passengers crashed in the Azadi neighborhood, west of Meherabad airport. However it did not clarify whether only the passengers or the people in the vicinity of the plane crash site also perished in the tragedy. The Mehrabad airport is in the west of Teheran and is primarily used for domestic operations.