Tehran, Feb 18: An Iranian passenger plane crashed on Sunday with all 66 people on board being killed. The Aseman Airlines flight had departed from the capital Tehran at 5 am local time. Within 20 minutes of departure, however, the plane went off the radar, said local news agency Tasnim.

The ATR 72  was vying towards Yasuj, the southwestern city of Iran. The plain, however, crashed in the mountainous region of central Iran.

Reports claimed that the accident occurred when the pilot attempted to make an emergency landing in the hilly tracts of Isfahan province.

The crash site was traced near Semirom in Isfahan. While most local news agency claim 66 people were on board, including passengers and crew members, semi-official Fars news agency said the toll could be as high as 66.

The disaster response force was dispatched to search for the survivors. However, dense fog has hampered the rescue operations, which could not allow the government choppers to reach Semirom in due time.

Since the site of the blast is reported to be a hilly tract, ambulances could not be directly sent. The deceased would be airlifted, reports claimed.

Aseman Airlines, based in Tehran, is the third largest domestic carrier of the nation.

Iran, which has been pressed under sanctions for nearly three decades, has failed to modernise its fleet of air carriers by roping in the private sector. After signing the nuclear deal with US in 2015 - which partially uplifted the sanctions on the Islamic Republic - it signed a deal with Boeing and Airbus to procure scores of passenger carriers.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 18, 2018 01:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).