Mina Basaran: Turkish bride-to-be and friends among 11 killed in private plane crash

A Turkish Instagram star and her friends celebrating her hen party were among 11 people killed in a private plane crash in Iran.

The plane was owned by the private holding company of millionaire businessman Huseyin Basaran and carried three crew members and eight passengers, including his daughter Mina, when it crashed into mountains on Sunday.

Miss Basaran had been flying back from her hen party in Dubai, where she had been celebrating with seven friends, ahead of her planned wedding next month.

The last photo on the 28-year-old's Instagram account showed her surrounded by seven other young women, all wearing pink dressing gowns and sunglasses.

The post, tagged #minasbachelorette, said it was taken at the One and Only Royal Mirage luxury hotel in Dubai.

Miss Basaran, a socialite and businesswoman, was due to marry Murat Gezer, owner of print shop Metprint Baskı Sistemler.

According to Turkish media, they were engaged in October at Istanbul’s Soho House and were due to be married on April 14th.

She was part of her father's company's board of managers and in line to run the business.

Mr Basaran, a former deputy chairman of Trabzonspor football club, owns several business and a small investment bank.

His construction projects include a series of luxury apartment blocks on Istanbul's Asian side called "Mina Towers", named after his daughter.

The flight took off Sunday from Sharjah International Airport in the UAE. A little over an hour into the flight, the aircraft rapidly gained altitude and then dropped drastically within minutes, according to FlightRadar24, a flight-tracking website.

It remains unclear what caused the crash, though a witness told state television the Bombardier CL604 was on fire before it hit the mountain.

Authorities have so far recovered 10 bodies from the crash site in the Zagros Mountains, according to a report by the state-run IRNA news agency.

Heavy rains and wind in the mountain range made it difficult for helicopters to land in the area, delaying the recovery of bodies.

The head of the Turkish Red Crescent, the Turkish equivalent to the Red Cross, Kerem Kinik, had told Reuters there was "no chance" of any survivors, given the aircraft was a jet and it was flying in snowy weather.

Families of the victims arrived Monday in Shahr-e Kord, accompanied by Turkish diplomats.

Sharjah civil aviation authorities said in a statement late Sunday night that the plane's eight passengers were six Turks and two Spaniards. Three others were the flight crew.