Images from the scene of the crash are indicative of a possible accidental collision of the aircraft on a mountain turf
Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, and his foreign minister have died after a helicopter crash in East Azerbaijan province, Reuters said.
This was confirmed after a search team located the wrecked pieces of the crashed helicopter carrying the Iran’s president and his foreign minister.
The helicopter transporting the Iran’s president was reported to have run into a mountainous terrain, failing to navigate its way through the icy weather.
“President Raisi, the foreign minister and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash,” a senior Iranian citizen said to Reuters.
A report from the Iran’s Mehr news agency confirmed that “all passengers of the helicopter”, including “the Iran’s president and foreign minister were martyred”.
Images from the scene of the crash are indicative of a possible accidental collision of the aircraft on a mountain turf, although there was yet-to-be released official statements on the cause of the accident, Iran state TV.
Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, 63, according to Newsmen, was flying in a US-made Bell 212 helicopter on Sunday when the pilot was forced by a foggy weather to make a “hard landing”.
The president and his minister were travelling Tabriz city, the north west of Iran, after returning from an Iran-Azerbaijan border area, Iranian local media reported.
Joint-rescue team struggled through heavy winter storms, fighting blizzards to find the wreckage.
“With the discovery of the crash site, no signs of life have been detected among the helicopter’s passengers,” the head of Iran’s Red Crescent, Pirhossein Kolivand, told state TV.
Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, reassured Iranians with hope and charged them to pray for their leaders in public service.
“Eveyone should pray for the health of these people who are serving the Iranian nation,” he said.
“The nation doesn’t need to be worried or anxious as the administration of the country will not be disrupted at all.”
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In expression of grief over the death of the Iran’s president, his foreign minister , and others who were involved in the aircraft crash, the Iranian state Television programs were paused in the early hours of Monday. (Epicstorian News report )
