MOSCOW, July 24 (RIA Novosti) - At least 17 people were killed and 19 injured as a passenger jet skidded off the runway during landing in northeast Iran, the IRNA news agency reported Friday.
Iranian television Press TV reported that at least 30 people were killed and 20 injured as the plane, an Aria Air Ilyushin Il-62M, had to make an emergency landing in Mashhad. It also said that there were 160 passengers and crewmembers on board the plane.
The plane's tires caught fire on landing and it skidded into a wall. The cockpit and the front part of the fuselage were completely destroyed in the crash, which occurred at 2.30 p.m. GMT.
A spokesman for the airport told Press TV that emergency services were carrying the injured to nearby hospitals, adding that full information on deaths and injuries will be provided later.
Last week, another plane, a Tu-154 of Iran's Caspian Airlines, crashed in northern Iran en route from Tehran to Yerevan, killing all 153 passengers and 15 crew onboard.
