Iranian military locates crash site of President Raisi's helicopter; search efforts intensified

Tehran [Iran], May 20 : The Iranian military has located the crash site of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, as reported by CNN, citing Iranian state news agency IRNA. According to the report, the military crew is currently en route to the identified location of the crash site.

A signal was received from the helicopter and the mobile phone of one of the crew members at the crash site, according to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander for East Azerbaijan province, where the crash occurred.

"Military forces are heading to the location and hope to have some good news," the commander said, according to IRNA.

The location of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi remained unknown following its crash on Sunday afternoon.

It has been approximately 10 hours since authorities lost contact with President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter in the country's East Azerbaijan Province, where dense fog hindered search efforts during the day. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency warned that extreme cold would only hinder the search further as night fell.

The overnight low temperature in the nearest city, Tabriz, will be in the low 50s on Sunday. It's difficult to obtain precise weather data from the remote mountains where the crash took place, but temperatures there will dip closer to freezing, according to CNN meteorologists.

Meanwhile, the European Union has activated its rapid response mapping service to assist in locating the Iranian leader. The European Commissioner for Crisis Management announced the activation of the service, responding to a request from Iranian authorities.

The Copernicus EMS exposure mapping component provides highly accurate and continuously updated information on the presence of human settlements and populations with the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL).

Moreover, Iran also requested assistance from Turkey in the search for the Iranian President's helicopter, CNN reported, citing the Turkish disaster and emergency management ministry.

Iran requested a night vision search and rescue helicopter, the ministry said. Turkey is also sending six vehicles and 32 mountaineer search and rescue personnel to Iran, according to the ministry.

President Ebrahim Raisi was travelling back to Iran following a visit to Azerbaijan when his helicopter came down in bad weather conditions on Sunday afternoon.

On board the chopper were Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, Hojjatoleslam Al Hashem, the head of the Friday prayer in Tabriz, Malek Rahmati, the governor of the province of East Azarbaijan, and several others.

Meanwhile, Iranian Vice President for Executive Affairs Mohsen Mansouri has said that Iranian officials have spoken to two people on the same helicopter as President Ebrahim Raisi since it crashed on Sunday, Iranian State News Agency IRNA reported.

Because officials made contact "several times" with a passenger and a member of the flight crew shortly after the crash, "it appears that the incident was not severe," Mansouri said. Three helicopters were flying on the same route before two lost contact with Raisi's helicopter, Mansouri said.

"The Ministry of Communications and other security agencies have identified the incident area within a 2-kilometer radius. Due to weather conditions, access to the area is challenging," he said.

"The helicopters of the 6th Combat Base of Tabriz Air Force arrived in the Varzeqan area according to the order to carry out relief operations," the Commander of Iran's 6th Air Force Base said on Sunday. "These helicopters, along with the rescue team, were sent to the helicopter accident area of the president's convoy from the early hours. Unfortunately, the operation failed due to unfavorable weather conditions."

Officials said rescuers were facing dense fog and extreme cold as the night grows later in Iran. It's currently just before 9:30 pm local time, CNN reported.

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