Iran President Ebrahim Raisi and the officials accompanying him are feared dead after local media reports quote rescuers as saying “no signs of survivors” at the crash site.
A Turkish drone Akinci searching for the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi identified a heat source of the wreckage in Iran's mountainous northwest and shared the coordinates with Iranian authorities, Turkish media reported.
The head of the Iranian Red Crescent confirmed that rescue teams have already reached the crash site. Video footage from the rescue team shows the helicopter was significantly damaged and broken into pieces on impact, with no signs of survivors so far.
“There was no sign of the helicopter occupants being alive as of yet,” state TV reported.
"No sign of survivors" was also reported by Iranian state news agency IRINN and semi-official news agency Mehr News.
Another picture showing what’s left of president Raisi’s helicopter after it crashed into the mountain. https://t.co/wRHbXrjqOY pic.twitter.com/TwJ5ODXsky
— Ali Hashem علي هاشم (@alihashem_tv) May 20, 2024
The helicopter, carrying Raisi, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, and other officials, crashed on Sunday, prompting a massive rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest.
The helicopter's transponders stopped transmitting signals after contact with the pilot was lost. Two other helicopters carrying government officials arrived safely at their destination. Raisi was returning from the border with Azerbaijan after inaugurating a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on the Aras River.
Iran uses various Western helicopters, but sanctions make obtaining parts difficult. The helicopter was reportedly a Bell UH-1N Twin Huey, a military variant of the U.S.-made Bell 212. These helicopters were delivered to Iran before the 1979 revolution, when Iran was a key U.S. defense partner during the Cold War.
