The General Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces has released the first report on the chopper crash that killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage.
The General Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces reported that a top inquiry committee made up of specialists, experts, and technicians arrived at the area on Monday morning after the incident.
According to the investigation, the helicopter kept on its set course throughout the flight and did not stray from it.
“Nearly one minute and a half before the incident, the pilot of the crashed helicopter had contacted the other two helicopters of the President’s convoy”, the report reads.
It went on to say, “No trace of bullets or similar items had been detected on the wreckage of the crashed helicopter”.
“After crashing into the mountain, the helicopter caught fire”, the statement reads.
“Complications of the region, fog, and low temperature had caused the search and rescue operations to continue until nightfall and then throughout the night”, the report continued.
“At 5 a.m. local time on Monday, with the assistance of drones, the exact location of the incident was identified”, the report continued.
“No suspicious issue had been detected in the conversations between the watchtower and the flight crew”, the report confirmed.
“More details would be provided after further investigations”, the report added.
Raisi and his entourage were en route to East Azerbaijan province when their chopper crashed in a hilly terrain on Sunday.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the Iranian Supreme Leader’s delegate to East Azerbaijan, Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, were also on board the chopper.
Raisi was laid to rest on Thursday at Imam Reza’s holy shrine in his hometown of Mashhad, in northeastern Iran.
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