MOSCOW, July 16 (RIA Novosti) - Rescuers have found two of three flight recorders from a passenger plane that crashed in northern Iran on Wednesday, killing all 168 people on board.

The Russian-made Tupolev plane owned by Caspian Airlines was en route from Tehran to the Armenian capital, Yerevan, when it crashed soon after takeoff on a farm in the Qazvin province.

The head of a crisis group set up by the Iranian transport ministry said the flight recorders were severely damaged in the crash and ensuing blaze, and that Iranian specialists may need to "request the assistance of specialists from the producing country."

A spokeswoman for Armenia's civil aviation organization, Nelly Cherchinyan, said an Armenian specialist will assist in obtaining information from the flight recorders.

Almost all those killed in the crash were Iranian citizens. Five were Armenians and two were Georgians.

The crash is believed to have been caused by a fire in one of the engines, Armenian state television earlier reported. Meanwhile, Iran's English-language Press TV said that the pilot had attempted an emergency landing due to a technical malfunction.

Thursday has been declared a nationwide day of mourning in Armenia.