Plane skids off runway onto nearby street in Iran

The incident comes as Iran is still coping with the aftermath of the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner over Tehran. The incident shows that tragedy was narrowly avoided.

Mahshahr: An Iranian passenger airliner carrying some 150 passengers skidded off the runway and into a street next to the airport in the southern city of Mahshahr on Monday, after apparently losing its landing gear in a hard landing.

No major injuries were reported.

The passengers calmly exited the plane from a front door and one over the wing.

Footage showed passengers being helped to the street below by people on the ground.

Provincial airport director Mohammad Reza Rezanian said all of the passengers had been safely taken off the plane.

It seems that tragedy was narrowly avoided, however, as images from the scene showed the plane had ground to a halt not far from a populated area.

The incident comes as Iran is still coping with the aftermath of the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner over Tehran.

The plane was shot down by the Revolutionary Guard earlier this month amid heightened tensions with the United States, killing all 176 people aboard.

Iranian state television said the plane involved in Monday's incident came in harder than usual and lost its landing gear as it hit the tarmac.