Xi sends Teheran message over crash

President Xi Jinping on Monday sent a condolence message to his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, over the crash of an Iranian jetliner a day earlier.

The Iranian passenger plane crashed into Dena mountain on Sunday morning, killing all 65 people on board, Abed Zadeh, chief of the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran confirmed.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a message on Sunday to his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, expressed deep condolences over the victims in the air tragedy and extended his sincere sympathy to their families.

The deputy governor of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province in south-western Iran said on Monday that the wreckage of the aircraft was found near the province's city of Dengezlu.

Iranian search and rescue teams reached the site of the plane crash on Monday, Iran's Press TV reported.

The aircraft, with the flight number 3704, had disappeared from the radar 50 minutes after taking off from Teheran, with 59 passengers and six crew members on board.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused the crash, although weather was severe, state TV reported.