At least 46 people are reported to have been injured as a plane caught fire during landing in north-east Iran.

The Russian built Tupolev 154 owned by Taban Air sustained serious damage while landing and caught fire, there are no reported deaths from the passengers who were mostly pilgrims.

The plane lost an undercarriage, a wing and also the back end of the plane broke of completely after the passengers were evacuated.

Reza Jafarzadeh, spokesman for Iranian civil aviation, said the plane had left the city of Abadan, in south-west Iran, on Saturday, but bad weather had forced it to land in the central city of Isfahan for the night, according to state television.

After taking off again on Sunday, the captain was forced to make an emergency landing in Mashhad because of a passenger’s health problems, he said.

The plane caught fire as it crash landed at Mashhad airport

As it landed in fog at Mashhad airport, the tail of the plane hit the ground and the plane skidded off the runway.

Iranian news networks released pictures of the tail of the plane burning, with smoke billowing from the end of the plane.

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