Tehran, Sep 1 (DPA) At least 90 people were killed Friday when an Iranian passenger jet crashed and broke into flames while landing in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

The Fars news agency said about 90 burnt corpses were recovered from the plane, while there were a further 40 badly injured survivors.

The Iranian news agency ISNA said the Tupolev-154 plane operated by the Iran Air Tours company was setting down for a landing when a tyre burst, and the plane caught fire.

Television images from the scene showed the plane's main fuselage broken at several places, with a gaping fire-blackened hole in one section as fire fighters and rescuers carried out their recovery operations.

Mashhad, in northeastern Iran, is about 750 km east of capital Tehran.