BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — A passenger jet carrying 90 people, including a Kyrgyz high school sports team, crashed shortly after takeoff yesterday near the Kyrgyz capital, killing 68, government officials said.

The Boeing 737 was headed to Iran when it crashed near Bishkek’s Manas International Airport, a government spokeswoman, Roza Daudova, said. Twenty-two people, including two crew members, survived the accident.

Earlier, Ms. Daudova, had said there were at least 71 dead and 25 survivors, but she later gave lower figures.

An airport official said the crew reported a technical problem about 10 minutes into the flight and that the plane was returning to the airport when it crashed. The official said she was not authorized to give her name.

Officials said the crash followed the sudden decompression of the jet, which came down in a field near a village.

Among the survivors, were seven out the 17 members of the basketball team from a school in the capital, Bishkek, a Health Ministry spokeswoman, Yelena Bayalinova, said. Presidential adviser Tokon Mamytov, however, later said that the athletes were volleyball, not basketball players.

Eighteen survivors were hospitalized, and four others were sent home with no serious injuries, according to Ms. Daudova.