Eko Hot Blog reports that rescue crews haven’t yet located the crash site of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
The head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, Pir-Hossein Koulivand, provided the update to Iranian state TV IRINN in the early hours of Monday.
It has been more than 15 hours since authorities lost contact with President Raisi’s helicopter in the country’s East Azerbaijan Province, where dense fog hindered search efforts during the day.
President Ebrahim Raisi attends a meeting during the inauguration ceremony of dam of Qiz Qalasi, or Castel of Girl in Azeri, at the border of Iran and Azerbaijan, May 19, 2024. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)
Earlier, a military commander said the aircraft’s exact location had been detected through a signal from the helicopter and a mobile phone of a crew member, according to state news agency IRNA.
The crews are still searching around where the signals were detected, Koulivand said.
Harsh weather conditions and heavy fog have made the search for the crash site very difficult.
Meanwhile, a Turkish drone helping to search for the location of the apparent crash has identified a heat source in the mountains of the country’s East Azerbaijan province, according to Iranian state media and Turkish news agency Anadolu.
In a still from a video released by Tasnim News, search and rescue teams continue their search near the site of the helicopter accident in East Azerbaijan, Iran. (Source: Tasnim News via X)
The condition of those on board the helicopter is still unknown.
A burning spot has been detected and rescue forces are being sent to that area known as Tavil, the country’s semi-official FARS news agency reported.
The Turkish drone identified the heat source and shares its coordinates with Iranian authorities, Anadolu reported.
A helicopter carrying the Iranian President crashed in a northern region of the country on Sunday, according to state news agency IRNA.
The country’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was among a number of officials also aboard the helicopter, IRNA reports.
In total, nine people, including three officials, an imam and flight and security team members, were on the helicopter that apparently crashed, Iran’s Tasnim news reported.
A helicopter carrying Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi takes off near the Iran-Azerbaijan border on May 19. (Photo: Ali Hamed Haghdoust/Islamic Republic News Agency/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)
The IRGC-run media outlet, Sepah, reported the nine included: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian; Governor of Eastern Azerbaijan province Malek Rahmati, Tabriz’s Friday prayer Imam Mohammad Ali Alehashem as well as a pilot, copilot, crew chief, head of security and another bodyguard.
Raisi became president in a historically uncompetitive election in 2021.
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