The helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, which crashed this Sunday in the mountainous Varzakan region of Iran, has already been found by rescuers. The accident occurred when the president was returning from the opening ceremony of a dam on the border of Iran and Azerbaijan. This may have happened due to bad weather.
According to the agency ReutersThe plane was also following Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister.
Rescue teams have been dispatched to the scene of the incident, and search efforts to find the passengers continue. Bad weather associated with poor visibility makes operations difficult.
According to local authorities, contact was made several times with one of the passengers and crew.
“We still have hope, but the information coming from the crash site is very alarming,” an Iranian official told the agency.
“It is dark and it has begun to rain, but the search continues. Rescue teams have arrived in the area. However, the rain has created mud, making the search difficult,” a local reporter told state television.
Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said, as quoted by IRNA, that due to difficult weather conditions, the search and rescue team may take some time to reach the crash site.
The satellite service of the European Copernicus Institute was also activated to support operations.
Iraq, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Qatar and other countries have already offered assistance in the search.