BREAKING: After Intense Operation of 12 Hours, Search Team Locates Iranian President Raisi's Chopper

New Delhi: After almost 12 hours of intense operation, search teams located the helicopter of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday. A helicopter carrying Raisi, the country's foreign minister and other officials apparently crashed in the mountainous northwest reaches of Iran on Sunday, sparking a massive rescue operation in a fog-shrouded forest as the public was urged to pray. 

Rescuers saw the helicopter that was carrying Iran's president at a distance, reported AP. The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Kolivand, said rescue teams were reaching the helicopter. He said they are seeing the helicopter from some 2 kilometres away.

The Iranian Red Crescent head highlighted that, according to the videos from the rescue teams, the entire cabin of the helicopter was significantly damaged and burned, adding that there were no signs of survivors on the site.

Turkish Drone Locates Heat Source 

A Turkish drone has located a heat source in the region where Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter had suffered hard landing. A Turkish drone Akinci has identfied a heat source in the accident region, said reports. Reports said that the heat source identified by Akinci UAV could possibly be the wreckage of the helicopter. The coordinates have been shared with the Iranian authorities. Iran has mobilised over 70 search teams to trace the whereabouts of Raisi and other members on board the helipcopter. 
 

(With AP inputs)