Three paratroops managed to jump to safety from the ageing Soviet-designed biplane before it came down and burst into flames near Tuzla airport, witnesses said.

"The rescue team found 11 bodies inside the plane," Claudiu Palaz, the prefect of Constanta department, was quoted as saying by the Mediafax news agency.

The head of the local emergency hospital, Marian Beciu, also said prosecutors and policemen had counted 11 dead.

The defence ministry had previously put the toll at 10 dead and three injured.

The AN-2 aircraft, a single-engined biplane of Soviet design carrying paratroopers ready for training, lost altitude soon after take-off, crashed and caught fire, the ministry said.

The three injured were taken to a local hospital, one of them in a coma, medical sources said.

Witnesses quoted by local media said three paratroopers had apparently managed to jump from the aircraft before it crashed.

The cause of the crash is unknown but the defence ministry has set up an investigation commission.

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