New details have emerged regarding the helicopter crash that tragically claimed the lives of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian.
Gholam Hossein Ismaili, an official who was in one of the three helicopters in the president's convoy, provided a detailed account of the incident to Iranian media.
According to Ismaili, the convoy of helicopters took off under clear weather conditions. Forty-five minutes into the flight, the pilot of the presidential helicopter, who was in charge of the convoy, requested to fly at a higher altitude to avoid a patch of clouds.
"However, 30 seconds later, our pilot noted that the president's helicopter had disappeared from sight," Ismaili recounted.
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In an attempt to locate the missing helicopter, Ismaili's pilot decided to land on a nearby copper mine. "The clouds were so dense in that area that we couldn't see anything below us," he explained. Despite repeated efforts, they were unable to establish radio contact with the presidential helicopter.
"A couple of minutes later, we landed in the Sungun mine area and immediately began our investigation," Ismaili continued. "We called out for the president's pilot, the foreign minister, and the president's bodyguard, but there was no response."
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The crash site was later discovered in the Eastern Azerbaijan province, confirming the worst fears. The tragic accident has led to a significant outpouring of grief across Iran, with the country observing five days of mourning.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei presided over the funeral services of the deceased at Tehran University on Wednesday, attended by top officials and foreign dignitaries, including a delegation from the Taliban of Afghanistan. The loss of president Raisi and foreign minister Abdollahian is a significant blow to Iran, and the nation continues to mourn the untimely deaths of its leaders.
The investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing, with authorities looking into all possible factors that could have contributed to this devastating incident.
