Two Passengers From Crashed Helicopter Communicate With Rescue Forces, Location Within 2km Radius Identified By ICT Ministry

It was earlier reported that the fate of President Raisi was unknown after the helicopter carrying him had a “hard landing” in a remote area of the country on Sunday.

Iranian Deputy President for Executive Affairs Mohsen Mansouri says two of the passengers of the missing helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi have communicated with rescue forces, “meaning that the accident was probably of low severity”.

According to Iranian news agency IRNA, it was noted that the location of the accident had been identified by the Information and Communications Technology Ministry in a radius of 2 km.

It was earlier reported that the fate of President Raisi was unknown after the helicopter carrying him had a “hard landing” in a remote area of the country on Sunday.

IRNA reported earlier that an extensive search and rescue operation was underway after the incident.

The incident occurred on Sunday in Dizmar forest between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in East Azerbaijan province.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s Fate Unknown After Helicopter Crash In Azerbaijan

The incident occurred as the president was returning from an event to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

According to IRNA, the helicopter's passengers were Iran's President Ibrahim Raisi; Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahiyan; Ayatollah Al-Hashemi, Imam of Tabriz Mosque and the representative of the Iranian supreme leader to the province, and Governor of East Azerbaijan Province Malik Rahmati.

Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian and Housing and Transportation Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash were in the other helicopters that reportedly reached their destination safely.

Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi who confirmed the incident on state TV said, “The esteemed president and company were on their way back aboard some helicopters and one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog.”

He said, “Various rescue groups are moving towards the site, but due to the fog and bad weather, it may take time to reach the area. The work is under control.”

"There have been contacts with [the president's] companions, but given that the area is mountainous and it is difficult to establish contacts, we hope that the rescue teams will reach the site of the incident sooner and give us more information," the interior minister added.

According to him, “the region is a bit [rugged] and it’s making it difficult to make contact”.

“We are waiting for rescue teams to reach the landing site and give us more information,” he added.

Local residents told IRNA's reporter that they heard "sounds" in the region a while ago.

More than 20 fully-equipped search and rescue teams, including drones and sniffer dogs, have been dispatched to the area.

The Iranian Armed Forces have also deployed commando units and Special Forces to assist in the search operation.

Due to the rugged terrain of the region and the difficult weather conditions, particularly the thick fog in the area, the search and rescue operation could take some time, IRNA's reporter said.

The spokesperson for Iran's Emergency Services told IRNA that eight ambulances have been dispatched to the region, adding that heavy fog has made air rescue efforts impossible.

Babak Yektaparast said that emergency medical teams consisting of technicians and doctors were deployed to the site immediately after the incident was reported.

He added that an emergency helicopter was also dispatched to assist but was forced to turn back due to the heavy fog, as it was unable to land in the area.

Local Iranian media have reported that it is heavily raining in the area in Varzaghan District and it is hard for the rescue and search teams to walk in the dense fog.