On Sunday, May 19, a helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and several other government figures, crashed in the mountains on Iran’s border with Azerbaijan. Rescue teams were sent to the area to search for survivors, and the search proceeded all day and night for the remains of the crew. President Raisi was on his way back from an important meeting with the Azerbaijani President, which involved also opening a major dam.
As of early morning Tehran time (GMT+3:30), Iranian state news agency IRINN and semi-official Mehr News agency reported there were “no survivors” found at the crash site, according to CNN.
Raisi’s helicopter was traveling in a convoy with two other helicopters, both of which arrived intact. The weather was terrible, including abnormally dense fog, which has made the search efforts extremely difficult. As a result, nations around the world offered their assistance in emergency efforts to locate the downed helicopter.
