Helicopter in convoy carrying Iranian president crashes - state media-VIDEO-UPDATED
Heavy fog has reduced visibility in the area where it is thought the aircraft may have landed or crashed, according to a local media outlet, Paralel.Az reports.
A reporter with Fars news agency, who is out with the emergency search units, says locating the aircraft will be difficult given the conditions.
He says the visibility in the mountainous and wooded area is down to only about five meters.
The area is about fifty kilometres to the north of Tabriz, the capital of the Easter Azerbaijan province, near the town of Varzeqan.
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Iranian media says rescue teams are on their way to the site after reports that a helicopter in the convoy of three carrying President Raisi had had a rough landing over East Azerbaijan, Paralel.Az reports.
There are contradictory reports of what has happened, with no official confirmation of the incident as yet.
One semi-official Iranian news outlet, Tasnim, says that two of the helicopters reached their destination safely.
Tasnim says that the other helicopter was carrying not only Raisi on board but Iran's foreign minister, too.
The Iranian news reports say that there is fog in the area where the incident is reported to have happened.
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A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on Sunday, Iranian state television reported, without immediately elaborating, Paralel.Az reports citing The Associated Press.
Raisi was traveling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said the incident happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600 kilometers (375 miles) northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran.
Rescuers were attempting to reach the site, state TV said, but had been hampered by poor weather condition in the area. There had been heavy rain reported with some wind.
To note, Raisi had been in Azerbaijan early Sunday to inaugurate a dam with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. The dam is the third one that the two nations built on the Aras River.