MOSCOW, July 15 (RIA Novosti) - A passenger plane crashed on Wednesday in northwest Iran killing all 168 people on board, Iranian state media reported.

TV channels quoted a spokesman for the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization as saying 153 passengers and 15 crewmembers were on board the Caspian Airlines plane.

The Russian-made Tupolev airliner was en route from Tehran to Yerevan when it crashed on a farm near the city of Qazvin, 16 minutes after takeoff from the Imam Khomeini International Airport, the state IRNA news agency said.

IRNA said the plane took off at 11:33 local time (07:03 GMT).

Qazvin emergency services told the agency that the plane was completely destroyed, and the wreckage burst into flames, leaving no hope of survivors.