Plane crashes at Fath Airport in Karaj near Tehran

At least 16 people are believed to have died as cargo flight overshoots runway during emergency landing

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A cargo plane tried to make an emergency landing at an airport near Tehran, before overshooting the runway and crashing into nearby buildings, killing 16 people, Iranian media reported on Monday.

The aircraft, believed to be a Boeing 707 cargo plane, mistakenly touched down in Fath Airport near Karaj, a residential area near Iran's capital, but lost control.

The plane is believed to have taken off from Manas International Airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

A spokeswoman for the Manas airport said the plane belonged to Iran's Payam Air.

But a source told the Fars news agency that the jet belonged to the Iranian air force.

“We don’t have clear information about the details of the crash,” the head of Iran’s emergency services, Pir Hossein Koolivand, said.

About 16 people were in the plane when it crashed and all the passengers are reported to have died.

Air ambulances and firefighters were sent to the scene between Fath and Payam airports.

Images from the scene show the tail of a plane protruding from trees surrounded by buildings, black smoke and fires burning on the ground.

A plane's blackened fuselage is seen lying on the ground as dozens of rescuers work at the scene.

Its engines and wheels are spread across the crash site and images from inside the plane's body show it is completely charred.

The ground around the tail of the plane is scorched and part of the buildings near the crash site have collapsed.

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