Iran Presidential Helicopter Crash: On the evening of May 19 (IST), the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and East Azarbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati among other dignitaries made a ‘hard landing’ in the city of Jolfa. Out of the convoy of three helicopters, two managed to make a soft landing but one, carrying the President unfortunately crashed. This happened when the Iranian President was returning from a dam inauguration ceremony on Aras River with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. Ever since this news broke out, search operations have been underway to locate the President and other personalities on the helicopter; Biden has called for an emergency meeting and the European Union has also activated its rapid response mapping service. In a latest development, the President’s helicopter has been found.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s Helicopter FOUND
While the search operations are underway, according to a latest news flash by the news agency AFP, as quoted by NDTV, the helicopter of the Iranian President has been found but the situation is not ‘very good’. To quote the news flash, “Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter found, situation ‘not good’, says Iran’s Red Crescent chief.”
Iran Presidential Helicopter Crash: President Ebrahim Raisi’s Life In Danger
According to initial reports, there were updates that the rescue teams had located the accident site and that the military crew was enroute to the identified location of the crash site but in a conflicting report, citing Pir Hossein Koulivand, the head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, who spoke to Iranian state TV IRINN, CNN has reported, “Rescue crews haven’t yet located the crash site of the helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.” The crews are still searching around where the signals were detected, Koulivand said and that the life of the Iranian President is in danger.
European Union Activates Rapid Response Mapping Service
Meanwhile, just hours after the Helicopter Crash, 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. “Upon Iranian request for assistance we are activating the EU’s @CopernicusEMS rapid response mapping service in view of to the helicopter accident reportedly carrying the President of #Iran and its foreign minister,” EU official posted on X.
The Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EMS) is a service funded by the European Commission (EU) that provides timely and accurate geospatial information for disaster management, humanitarian crises, and man-made emergencies. The EMS provides continuous observations and forecasts for droughts, floods, and forest fires at the global and European levels. The EMS also provides access to open data sources and in-situ data. 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).
Iran Requests Assistance From Turkey
Iran has also sought assistance from Turkey in the search operations and has requested a night vision search and rescue helicopter. 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.
(Inputs from ANI)
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