Pir Hossein Kolivand, head of the Iranian Red Crescent, confirmed that the helicopter crashed into a mountainside and was completely burned. “During the examination of the site of the wreckage, no signs of living passengers were found,” Kolivand stated.
The search and rescue operation was severely hampered by dense fog and darkness. The adverse conditions prevented the rescue helicopter from promptly reaching the crash site.
The crash occurred as Raisi was returning from a ceremony to open a dam on the Araks River on the Iran-Azerbaijan border, which he attended with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The convoy included three helicopters, two of which returned safely.
According to the Iranian constitution, in the event of the president’s death, the first vice president, currently Mohammad Mokhber, will assume the post with the approval of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Presidential elections will be held within 50 days.
Al-Jazeera noted Iran’s “abysmal” air accident statistics, partly due to the country's inability to acquire necessary equipment for its air fleet due to U.S. sanctions imposed after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Nearly 2,000 Iranians have been killed in plane crashes since 1979, and a total of 1,755 people have died in accidents involving Iranian airlines during that 44-year period.
(jh)
Source: IAR, PAP
