Iranian state TV has confirmed the deaths of President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash.
The names of some of those killed in the helicopter crash besides Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian have now been released.
The IRNA state news agency says that also on board were Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem, the imam for Friday prayers in the city of Tabriz, and General Malek Rahmati, the governor of the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan.
The commander of the president’s protection unit, Sardar Seyed Mehdi Mousavi, was also killed, as were a number of bodyguards and helicopter crew who have not yet been named.
Drone footage was shared on Iranian state news agency IRNA’s social media channels which the agency says shows the wreckage of President Raisi’s helicopter.
The footage, shot by the Red Crescent, appears to show the tail of a helicopter next to a large patch of scorched earth on a hillside littered with debris.
Rescuers have said there is no sign of life at the site. (vitalnewsngr.com)