Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced five days of mourning over the death of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi. President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdullahian and several other officials were killed in a helicopter crash.

Their bodies have already been recovered and taken to Tabriz city. Iranian semi-official news agency Tasnim News confirmed the information about the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS).

IRCS chief Pir-Hossein Koulivand said on Monday (May 20) morning that the search operation by the President’s helicopter continued overnight despite fog and rain. Rescue teams were dispatched to the crash site after an Iranian drone located the wreckage of the helicopter.

He said that the bodies of all the passengers in the helicopter have been removed by ambulance and they are being taken to Tabriz. In an official statement after President Ibrahim Raisi and other officials were killed, the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said, “I declare five days of mourning and express my condolences to the dear Iranian people.”

Earlier, President Raisi inaugurated two dams near the border with Azerbaijan on Sunday. After that, he was going to the city of Tabriz in the north-west of Iran by helicopter. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdullahian and several other officials were with him. The helicopter carrying them met with an accident 50 km away from Tabriz.

The President’s fleet had a total of three helicopters. The other two helicopters landed safely, but the one carrying Ibrahim Raisi crashed. Iran’s Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian and Housing and Transport Minister Mehrdad Bajarpash were in the helicopter that returned safely.