Medical Chopper Crashes in Iran Killing 10

The death toll of a rescue helicopter crash in northeastern Iran Wednesday morning has increased to ten, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

Earlier in the day, a medical emergency official in northeastern Mashhad city told Fars news agency that the helicopter which belonged to Iran's airforce and was hired by the emergency center of Mashhad was crashed in an operation.

The helicopter was transferring five injured people in an accident to a hospital in Mashhad when it crashed in Sineh-Arab region in Khorasan Razavi province in the northeast of Iran, the official, Reza Vafaeinejad, was quoted as saying.

Vafaeinejad said there were ten people onboard the helicopter, including five crew members and five injured in a traffic accident near Mashhad.

He said that the crash took place due to bad whether condition and foggy air so that the pilot had to lower its height, hence, the helicopter hit the cables of high-pressure power and crashed.

Earlier Wednesday, Fars reported that nine people onboard the helicopter were killed and one was seriously injured who was taken to a nearby hospital.

Copyright 2012 Xinhua News Agency