TEHRAN, Dec. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- The death toll of a Tuesday plane crash in the Iranian capital Tehran now stands at 108 and the figure might rise further as the identification of the victims' bodies is still going on, the state television reported on Wednesday.

    The report confirmed that a report by the official IRNA news agency on Tuesday evening that 106 bodies had been found on the crash scene, adding that two of the wounded died after being sent to hospital.

    The state television said forensic experts were working hard to identify the bodies of the victims.

    On Tuesday night, the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Interior Ministry spokesman Mojtaba Mir-Abdolahi as saying a total of 116 bodies have been recovered while some local media put the death toll at as high as 119 or 128.

    The disaster occurred when an Iranian military C-130 transport aircraft, bound for the Gulf seaport city of Bandar Abbas, crashed into a 10-story apartment building at 2:10 p.m. (1040 GMT) located in an Air Force residential area lying on the flight path of Tehran's Mehrabad international airport.

    Engine failure was reported shortly after the plane took off from Mehrabad airport.

    The scene has remained under strict blockade so far.IRNA reported on Wednesday that there were 97 people on board,68 of them journalists and photographers who were on the way to cover military exercises in the southern Gulf city.

    Earlierreports said 94 people were aboard and 78 of them journalists. Iranian media communities mourned over the death of the 68 journalists on Wednesday.

    IRNA reported that General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists Aidan White had sent a message of condolence, saying "today is a sad and desperate day for journalism."

    Meanwhile, the English-language Tehran Times published in itsfront page an article titled "Tragedy Strikes Tehran" on Wednesday.

    Ranking Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Seyed AliKhamenei President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Majlis (Parliament)Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddade Adel have expressed condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families.

    All of Iran's C-130 aircraft and other US-made planes were imported during the pro-US Shah's reign, which came to an end withthe country's Islamic Revolution in 1979.

    Some of the planes are in poor condition due to the lack ofspare parts and maintenance. Enditem