A Turkish Airlines passenger plane crashed in southeast Turkey and burst into flames as it tried to land, killing 75 people, officials and witnesses said. Prime Minister Abdullah Gul ruled out a "terrorist" attack, saying the cause of Wednesday's crash appeared to be the heavy fog that had enshrouded the city of Diyarbakir for several days.

Five passengers who were pulled out of the wreckage alive remained in hospital, some of them in serious condition. A two-year-old child who had been taken to hospital was pronounced brain dead early on Thursday.

The Turkish Airlines plane, an RJ100, which had been flying from Istanbul to Diyarbakir, the capital of the mainly Kurdish southeast, crashed into a field as it made its landing approach. Fierce fire hampered rescue attempts.

Ambulances and fire tenders rushed to the scene, and military helicopters hovered overhead playing spotlights on the crash site through thick fog. Rescue forces checked inside the wreckage of the plane for survivors as the flames subsided, but for almost all it was too late.

"Some passengers burned to death," Transport Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters.

Distraught relatives wept and comforted each other at the airport terminal. Others ran out on to the street in panic as police struggled to keep order in sub-zero temperatures.

"There are body parts everywhere. Many of the bodies are burned," one official told Reuters. Corpses were being kept at a sports hall after the morgue at a medical school was overwhelmed.

Diyarbakir Governor Ahmet Cemil Serhadli said the plane had broken up and debris was spread over a wide area. State television showed the shattered remains of the fuselage and engines still smoking several hours after the impact.

CABIN ENGULFED IN FLAMES

Turkish Airlines general manager Yusuf Bolayirli said the death toll was 75. At least three foreigners were among the dead. The British Foreign Office said two Britons were missing, presumed dead.

Aliye Il, a survivor taken to hospital in Diyarbakir, told Reuters flames engulfed the cabin after the impact.

"As soon as the plane made contact with ground there was an explosion, flames were everywhere. I undid my seat belt and ran outside toward a field and heard a second explosion," she said.

Survivor Celal Tokmak told state television he had suffered cuts to the head and bruises as well as burns on his body.

"There was abnormal fog at the airport. I heard a loud explosion right before we were to land, it felt like my ear exploded... I heard a loud explosion after the crash," he said.

"At first I thought there was a war. Is this an attack? I didn't think it was a crash," he said from hospital.

Airport officials said the pilot did not issue a mayday warning.

The airport in Diyarbakir is a wide expanse of land shared by military and civil air traffic. Civilian flights land more than a kilometer from the main terminal, and passengers are carried to and from their flights on buses.

There has been speculation that Diyarbakir airport, within easy reach of the Iraqi border, could be one of those the United States might ask to use for an attack on Iraq. Air defense missiles were deployed there during the Gulf War in 1991.

The prime minister, who spoke of his "deep sadness" after the crash, said he would visit Diyarbakir on Thursday.

Asked if the plane had come under a "terrorist attack," Gul said: "According to the initial information, something like that is out of the question... The evidence of (military) commanders is such. There is extreme fog, and the airport is covered in fog. It is very likely it was bad weather conditions."

Anxious relatives awaiting the plane's arrival rushed to hospital in search of news of their family members.

"There are cars and taxis everywhere but they're not letting anyone in," said one witness at the state hospital.

"People outside are yelling for information but nobody is telling them anything. The police are trying to keep order."

PHOTO CAPTION

A Turkish Airlines passenger plane carrying more than 70 people on a domestic flight crashed in southeast Turkey on January 8, 2003 and most of those on board were feared dead, officials and witnesses said. (MapInfo, NASA-Visible Earth/Reuters Gr