Iran President Ebrahim Raisi dead in helicopter crash: Report
NEW DELHI, MAY 20 : Iran President Ebrahim Raisi has died in a helicopter crash, Iranian state media confirmed. “No survivors” were found at the crash site of the chopper that was carrying Raisi, his Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollhian and other senior officials.
After hours of searching through mountainous terrain amid inclement weather, rescue teams located the crashed helicopter. “President Raisi’s helicopter was completely burned in the crash,” an official told news agency Reuters.
The chopper crashed in Jolfa in the mountainous northwestern region of the country on Sunday. The incident happened as Raisi and others were travelling back from their visit to Iran’s border with Azerbaijan.
The next in the line for the presidency is First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, if approved by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Footage released by the state-run IRNA early on Monday showed the purported crash site of the President’s helicopter, across a steep valley in a green mountain range. Soldiers speaking in the local language said, “There it is, we found it.”
Shortly after, state TV reported, “There is no sign of life from people on board.”
A total of nine people were aboard the helicopter, including Raisi, Abdollahian, three Iranian officials, an imam and flight and security team members, CNN reported, citing Iranian media. One of the three officials was Governor of Eastern Azerbaijan province Malek Rahmati.
Search efforts continued throughout the night and into daylight on Monday to locate the site of the crash in East Azerbaijan province under difficult weather conditions with dense fog and extreme cold.
One of Turkey’s ‘Akinci’ drones, which was sent to aid the rescue operations, had reportedly identified a “source of heat suspected to be wreckage” of the helicopter, The Telegraph reported. A burning spot was detected, and rescue forces were sent to the area known as ‘Tavil’, Iranian media reported. The Turkish drone had shared its coordinates with Iranian authorities.
Besides Turkey, Russia plans to send special aircraft and 50 professional mountain rescuers to the crash site to aid in the search operation. Two special Russian helicopters will be sent to the site from Armenia, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported, stating that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the move.
-PTI
