TEHRAN (IRNA) -- Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini here Wednesday expressed regret over a plane crash in Brazil on Tuesday.

An Airbus A320 belonging to Brazilian airliner crashed and exploded in flames on Tuesday at Brazil's busiest airport. Around 200 people, including 176 people on board and casualties on the ground, were feared dead in the country's second major air disaster in less than a year. According to reports, the plane, flying from Porto Alegre in southern Brazil, lost control on landing at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport, which is known for slippery runways and has become a symbol of the country's chaotic air transport system. The passenger jet skidded off the rain-soaked landing strip and shot over a bustling avenue just below, slamming into a gas station and cargo terminal where people were working. ""The painful incident of the Brazilian plane crash, which left a number of passengers from the country dead, caused deep grief for the Iranian government and people,"" he said. Hosseini expressed sympathy with the bereaved families and extended his condolences to the Brazilian people and government