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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's state-run media says a small passenger plane crashed Sunday while taking off from an airport near the capital, and at least 40 people are feared dead.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reports the plane went down in a residential area after its engine went out. It says as many as 48 people, including seven children, may have been aboard the plane. State television puts the figure at 42 people.
Iran has suffered a series of airplane crashes, blamed on its aging aircraft and poor maintenance. Many of the Boeing aircraft in state-run Iran Air's fleet were bought before the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution, which disrupted ties with the U.S. and Europe.
Iranian airlines, including those run by the state, are chronically strapped for cash, and experts say maintenance has suffered. U.S. sanctions prevent Iran from updating its American aircraft and make it difficult to get European spare parts or planes as well.
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