At least 16 people were killed and more than 25 injured on Friday when an Iranian passenger plane crashed while landing in the north-east city of Mashad, the local deputy governor said. Hossein Pour told the state news agency IRNA that 152 passengers were on board the Russian-made Ilyushin 62M, which caught fire and crashed into a wall at the side of the airport runway. The airliner, operated by the private airline Arya, was on a flight from the Iranian capital, Tehran. All surviving passengers and the deceased had been taken from the aircraft and the fire extinguished, the local official said. He said the pilot, who was killed in the accident, was unable to control the plane during landing and it skidded from the runway and hit a nearby wall. Television footage showed the plane with its tail on the ground and the cockpit a mass of tangled metal. The rest of the aircraft appeared intact.
