Bishkek/Moscow - Kyrgyz officials could only confirm 25 survivors so far of the 90 passengers and crew aboard a 737 passenger airliner that crashed near the country's capital Bishkek on Sunday.

Officials corrected the number of persons aboard the plane from a previously reported 123.

Unconfirmed local reports citing Itek Air, the airline that owned the plane, said that around 60 people perished in the crash about 5 kilometres outside the capital city. There was no word as to the fate of the other persons.

The country's Civil Defence Ministry reported that the downed airliner, which had been en route from Bishkek to Iran, was completely consumed by fire.

Itek Air is one of more than a dozen Kyrgyz airlines that are banned from flying into the European Union due to safety concerns.