Iranian President Raisi's chopper located, rescue teams reach site of crash

After over 10 hours of searches, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter has been located, Iran-based news network Press TV reported on Monday. The president of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) head Pir-Hossein Kolivand this morning said today said that rescue teams arrived at the wreckage of the crashed helicopter carrying the president.

He did not give further detail but said "the condition is not good", state news agency IRNA reported. "73 rescue teams are present in the search area of the helicopter in Tawal village with advanced and specialized equipment", he added.

The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that rescue teams towards the crash site of the chopper carrying Ebrahim Raisi after a Turkish drone, Akinci, identified a heat source in the accident region, Press TV reported.

According to Turkish News agency Anadolu, an Akinci UAV identified a source of heat suspected to be the wreckage of a helicopter carrying Raisi and shared its coordinates with Iranian authorities.

Hoping to locate the crash site, Iranian authorities dispatched forces to the place where rescue teams reported the smell of fuel, Press TV reported.
President Raisi was returning to Iran following a visit to Azerbaijan when his helicopter came down in bad weather conditions on Sunday afternoon.

Nine people were on the helicopter that crashed in northwest Iran on Sunday, including three officials, an imam, and flight and security team members, as reported by Tasnim news.

The IRGC-run media outlet, Sepah, reported the nine included: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian; Governor of Eastern Azerbaijan province Malek Rahmati, Tabriz's Friday prayer Imam Mohammad Ali Alehashem as well as a pilot, copilot, crew chief, head of security and another bodyguard.

After the reported crash of President Raisi's helicopter, several countries have come forward to help in the ongoing search operations.