Thirty passengers were killed but not 80 as earlier had reported when an Iranian airliner caught fire on Friday, state television reported.

 

There were 148 passengers on board the plane, which had been on a flight from the southern port city of Bandar Abbas to Mashhad, about 1,000 km northeast of Tehran, the TV said.

 

Some 62 people had survived unhurt, while at least 47 were hospitalized and 30 bodies had been recovered so far, none of the Iran Airtour plane's crew members died in the fire, according to the latest report from state television.

 

In the meantime, some other media reported that only 29 passengers were killed in the accident.

 

A tyre of the Russian-made Tupolev burst and started the fire when the plane was landing, and the fire had been kept under control.

 

An investigation of the plane fire has been underway.

 

Iran has witnessed a high rate of air accidents over the years due to lack of spare parts and maintenance of aircraft, partly as a result of US economic sanctions.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 2, 2006)