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About 85 people were injured, some seriously, when an Aeromexico-operated Embraer plane crashed in Mexico's state of Durango, but authorities said there were no fatalities.

The operator of Durango airport, Grupo Aeroportuario Centro Norte, attributed the crash to bad weather conditions.

The mid-sized jet was almost full with 103 people including two infants and four crew members on board.

Passenger Jackeline Flores told reporters the plane crashed shortly after taking off in heavy rain.

She and her daughter escaped from a hole in the fuselage as the aircraft filled up with smoke and flames, she said.

"A little girl who left the plane was crying because her legs were burned," said Flores, who said she was Mexican but lived in Bogota, Colombia.

Flores said her passport and documents burned in the fire.

"I feel blessed and grateful to God," she said.

(Image: DURANGO CIVIL PROTECTION)

It crashed around 4pm local time (10pm BST), Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, Mexico's minister for communications and transportation, wrote on Twitter.

"The plane was taking off," Governor Jose Rosas Aispuro told Mexican television, adding that witnesses told him there was "a bang" and then without warning the plane was on the ground.

TV images showed the severely damaged body of the plane after it came to rest in scrubland and a column of smoke rose into the sky.

The plane had barely taken off when it felt like it was hit by a strong air current, another passenger told network Televisa.

(Image: DURANGO CIVIL PROTECTION)

A gust of wind was said to have rocked the plane before it suddenly plunged.

The plane's left wing hit the ground, knocking off two engines, before it came to a halt around 300 yards from the runway.

Alejandro Cardoza, a spokesman for the state's civil protection agency, said in an interview that around 85 people had been injured, adding that a fire resulting from the accident had been put out and there were no reports of burn victims.

"Many managed to leave the plane on foot," he said.

The head of Mexico's civil aviation agency, Luis Gerardo Fonseca, said it could take months to know the cause of the crash.

He told Televisa the plane's voice and data recorders would be recovered once rescue efforts were completed.

The Mexican airline said on Twitter that flight number 2431 was an Embraer 190 and was bound for Mexico City when it crashed.

Embraer said yesterday it had sent a team of technicians to the scene of the accident and stood ready to support the investigation.

The aircraft, the serial number of which was 190-173, was delivered in May 2008, the company said in a statement.