By Crispin Thorold BBC, Sharjah

Investigators are gathering evidence

Eyewitnesses said they heard a loud noise before seeing the aircraft.

"The airplane was coming from the north", said Mohammad Ibrahim, 28. "One wing was on fire. At the last moment it turned."

At the scene of the accident, locals watched the clear-up operation from rooftops. By banking the plane sharply, the pilot avoided nearby houses.

An official said 43 of the passengers and crew were killed. Three were rescued by the emergency services.

Mohammad Ibrahim saw one of the survivors just moments after the crash.

"When I arrived there was a man standing, surrounded by fire," he said. "He was very shocked and we got him to sit down. We told the police that he was still alive."

Investigation begins

It is believed that the Kish Airline Fokker-50, travelling from the Iranian island, Kish, landed nose-first.

One policeman, who arrived soon after the accident, said the front of the plane was destroyed on impact, but the back was not damaged.

"When I came there was no shouting, no screaming," he said. "Bodies were taken to the hospital and the firefighters put out the fire."

The tail of the plane is largely intact. Other fragments, most barely recognisable, litter the ground.

Accident investigators are piecing through the debris and one of the flight recorders has been retrieved.

Most of those on board are thought to have been overseas workers based in the United Arab Emirates. Thousands of Asians and Africans work in the UAE.

Kish, an island off the Iranian coast, is a popular destination for so-called visa runs - leaving the country you are working in, for a short time, so you can get a new visa on return.

Nationals of 12 countries died, including 12 Indians, 12 Iranians, and four Egyptians.