The first of several funeral ceremonies began in Iran for President Ebrahim Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and other victims of Sunday’s helicopter crash, as details emerged of the final moments before the accident.
Thousands of government supporters flocked to the ceremony in the northwestern city of Tabriz on Tuesday to say their goodbyes, state media reported.
Tabriz is the capital of East Azerbaijan province, where the accident occurred.
Videos shared by Iranian news agencies showed crowds of people under cloudy skies and an open truck carrying coffins decorated with flowers moving slowly through the streets.
The crowd crowded around the truck as people tried to get their hands on the coffin of Raisi and other victims. According to Tasnim news agency, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi was among the crowd.
More mourning ceremonies are planned in the religious stronghold and pilgrimage site of Qom and in the capital Tehran.
A military band played as the coffins arrived at Tehran airport for transport to Qom, as seen in a video published by IRNA news agency. The bodies were carried down a red carpet.
A number of traffic restrictions were imposed in the capital Tehran due to the funeral procession.
Raisi and Amirabdollahian died in a helicopter crash with seven other passengers. They headed into the mountains in thick cloud as they traveled back from a meeting with Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan.
On Tuesday, an official flying on another plane and part of the delegation described the circumstances before the crash as clear.
The downed helicopter was one of three returning from the meeting and Raisi’s chief of staff was traveling in one of the others.
“The weather was cloudless, completely clear and bright,” Gholam-Hossein Esmaili told the state broadcaster on Tuesday.
But after about half an hour, clouds appeared in the sky and the pilot of the presidential helicopter, flying in the center of the fleet, ordered the plane to rise higher into the sky. Shortly afterwards, the pilot of Esmaili’s helicopter realized that Raisi’s helicopter was no longer with it.
“Why are we turning back?” the chief of staff asked. The co-pilot responded that the president’s helicopter was missing and the crew assumed it had made an emergency landing.
The two other helicopters circled the area for several minutes before their radio communications were interrupted.
The two planes then landed at a copper mine shortly afterwards due to poor visibility.
Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has declared five days of national mourning. Tasnim reported that a national holiday has been set for Wednesday.
Another funeral procession is planned in Tehran, and a ceremony honoring the crash victims will also take place in the afternoon, in the presence of senior foreign dignitaries.
Raisi will be buried on Thursday in the Shiite center of his hometown of Mashhad, at the shrine of Imam Reza, the eighth imam of Shiite Islam.
In Iran and abroad, government supporters mourned Raisi’s death, while critics spoke of his government’s oppression.
