By bne Tehran bureau May 19, 2024
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian are reportedly missing after a helicopter he was travelling in was forced to make a “hard landing” on the border of Azerbaijan, local media reported.
The massive search for the Bell 412 helicopter involving Red Crescent rescue teams, military personnel, and police is ongoing but is being hampered due to heavy fog in the region. Teams of men are currently on foot looking for the helicopter at the latest reports.
Iran’s television networks have no changed their line from “hard landing” to “accident” more than two hours after the helicopter crash. The country’s health minister “all health facilities have been sent to the location.”
“Initial reports suggest no one survived the crash and that Raisi and his colleagues died in the tragedy, but there has been no confirmation of this as yet.
Iranian officials were reportedly tweeting Islamic prayers in some instances, while reports from leading newspapers have been removed for the moment.”