Passenger plane skids off runway and into street in Iran

No major injuries were reported after the plane apparently lost its landing gear

An Iranian passenger plane sits on a highway outside Mahshahr airport after skidding off the runway. Photograph: EPA
An Iranian passenger plane sits on a highway outside Mahshahr airport after skidding off the runway. Photograph: EPA

An airliner carrying 150 passengers has skidded off a runway into a street next to an airport in the Iranian city of Mahshahr.

No major injuries were reported after the plane apparently lost its landing gear in a hard landing.

Provincial airport director Mohammad Reza Rezanian said all of the passengers had been safely taken off the plane.

Tragedy was only narrowly avoided, as images from the scene showed the plane had ground to a halt not far from a populated area.

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The incident comes as Iran is still coping with the aftermath of the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner over Tehran.

The plane was shot down by the Revolutionary Guard earlier this month amid heightened tensions with the United States, killing all 176 people onboard.

Iranian state television said the plane involved in the incident came in harder than usual and lost its landing gear as it hit the tarmac.

No landing gear was evident in pictures of the plane after the accident, but it was not immediately clear if it failed to deploy or somehow collapsed as the jet hit the runway at about 9.30am local time.

Officials said the accident is under investigation.

The flight from the Tehran-based airline originated in the Iranian capital.

Iranian reports identified the plane only as a McDonnell Douglas without being more specific. – PA