Pir-Hossein Koulivand said on Monday morning that the search operation for the helicopter of the president was in progress incessantly during the night in the foggy and rainy weather.

He said the rescue teams were deployed to the crash scene after an Iranian drone detected the exact location of wreckage of the helicopter.

All bodies of the passengers of the helicopter have been transferred to ambulances and are being taken to the cemetery of Tabriz, he stated.

The tragic accident happened as the president and his entourage were returning from Khoda Afarin region in Iran’s northwestern province of East Azarbaijan after inaugurating a dam at the common border with the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The crash has killed President Raisi, Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian, Friday prayers leader of Tabriz Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Al-e-Hashem, Governor of East Azarbaijan Malek Rahmati, and members of the president’s security team and the crew.

Rescue teams have located the chopper that crashed in the country’s northwest on Sunday afternoon, Pir-Hossein Koulivand, head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), said in televised remarks in the wee hours of Monday morning.

He said there was no sign of any survivors in the incident that took place on Sunday.

However, there is no official confirmation so far of the search and rescue operation concluding.

The chopper that was transporting Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and their companions encountered some difficulties and was forced to make a “hard landing”.

The incident happened in the Dizmar forest, nestled between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in East Azerbaijan province.

Raeisi and his accompanying delegation were returning from a ceremony to inaugurate a dam on the Aras River with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.