Plane crashes in Armenian capital

The plane flipped over and caught fire during take-off

A plane with 21 people on board has crashed in flames, shortly after taking off from Yerevan airport in Armenia.

The Canadian-built CRJ-100, operated by the Belarussian state airline Belavia, had just left en route for Minsk when it caught fire.

There were no fatalities, but four people were taken to hospital with serious burns, a local official said.

Yerevan's Zvartnots airport was temporarily closed after the crash, which took place at 0415 (0015GMT).

"Nearly everyone on board received burns of various degrees," said Gayane Davtyan, a spokeswoman for Armenia's civil aviation authority.

There were 18 passengers and three crew on flight 1834.

Sixteen of those on board were Armenian nationals. The nationalities of the others are not known.

So far there is no indication of the cause of the crash.

Armenian civil aviation chief Artyom Movsesyan told the Arminfo news agency that the plane's wing hit the ground and the jet then flipped over several times, bursting into flames.

He said airport firefighters and rescuers had reacted quickly and "thanks to their prompt actions all the people aboard the plane were saved".