Ebrahim Raisi chopper crash: First visuals from crash site show wreckage
Ebrahim Raisi chopper crash: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died when his helicopter crashed while flying over mountains in East Azerbaijan province in severe fog, according to Iran's state agencies.
"President Raisi, the foreign minister and all the passengers in the helicopter were killed in the crash," a senior Iranian official stated.
State media released the first visuals from the crash site, nearly 16 hours after the accident, showing the aircraft wreckage on a mountain peak. The cause of the crash is unknown, although similar incidents are not uncommon in Iran.
As Iranians flocked to the streets to pray for their president, rescuers faced heavy fog and cold conditions to reach the crash scene. The search team looked through the challenging terrain to find the wreckage.
Following the helicopter's takeoff, Iranian state media released a still from a video showing President Ebrahim Raisi on board the helicopter in the Jolfa region of East Azerbaijan's western province.
The footage shows the moment the president's helicopter wreckage was found by the volunteer drone team of the Relief & Rescue Organization of the Red Crescent pic.twitter.com/xJ3qCdUi9t — IRNA News Agency (@IrnaEnglish) May 20, 2024
- With inputs from agencies
