A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday afternoon crashed in northwestern Iran, Iranian state media reports.

It is unclear if Raisi and others on board with him survived the crash.

IRNA, the state media, reported that Hossein Amirabdollahian, foreign minister; Malek Rahmati, governor of East Azarbaijan province; and Hojjatoleslam Al Hashem, Tabriz Friday prayer leader, were also on board the helicopter.

Raisi was reported to be returning from a ceremony to open a dam on Iran’s border with Azerbaijan when the helicopter crash landed in the Varzaqan region.

The dam is the third one that the two nations built on the Aras River, and it comes amid chilly relations between the two countries.

IRNA added that rescue and relief teams have been dispatched to the area, and search operations continue.

The media outfit said the foggy weather and the impassability of the area have frustrated efforts.

There had been heavy rain and fog, along with some wind. IRNA called the area a “forest.”.

Governor Siminalayi Fubara believes his administration has recorded giant strides in infrastructure since its inception about a year ago.

Fubara made the remark on Saturday in Ngo Town at the inauguration of the Andoni section of the Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo Unity Road project, Andoni Local Government Area.

While he did not mention any past administration, Fubara said since coming on board, his government has done well in the execution of projects, promising to do more for residents of the oil-rich state.

To the glory of God, we made history by commissioning the Andoni section of the Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo Unity Road.

The commissioning marks the end of a 24-year journey of constructing a road that connects three local government areas hitherto separated by water and a difficult… pic.twitter.com/NdsFhqYPkn

— Siminalayi Fubara (@SimFubaraKSC) May 18, 2024

“Like I said the other day, we just started. We started about three or four months ago but I am very happy that if we have to assess ourselves within that three months, we have done better than people who stayed for eight years,” the governor said. “I stand to be challenged.”

1. Soldiers on Saturday stormed Banex Market in Abuja over the assault on some of their colleagues. A mob had descended on at least two soldiers in the markets where electronic gadgets and mobile phones are mostly sold. Some traders closed for the day and fled home to apparently avoid being caught up in a reprisal attack.

2. Africa’s richest man and chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, says with the plan by the Dangote Refinery, Nigeria will not need to import gasoline by June, this year. Speaking at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali on Friday, he said the refinery had started supplying diesel and aviation fuel in Nigeria.

3. The Oba of Benin, Omo N’Oba N’Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, Ewuare II, has received two looted royal stools carted away during the invasion of Benin City in 1897, from the German government. The artefacts — bronze and wooden royal stools (Ekete), were looted during the reign of Oba Eresoyen and Oba Esigie several centuries ago.

4. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, former Bauchi Governor, Alhaji Isa Yuguda, and former INEC Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, and others to serve in the newly released list of federal universities’ governing councils.

5. Rivers Governor, Siminalayi Fubara has lamented that his administration only settled down to work three months ago due to the crisis rocking the State. Fubara said despite the delay, his government had achieved better project and service delivery than the eight years of government of some other administrations.

6. Tragedy struck in Ode-Omu town in Ayedaade local government area of Osun State on Saturday after a private car crushed a mother and two children returning from vigil to death. It was gathered that they were crushed to death while on a motorcycle. The rider simply identified as Abraham also died.

7. The presidency has dismissed the planned alliance between former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi. According to the presidency, President Bola Tinubu is not bothered about the planned alliance, noting that the President was not losing sleep.

8. A yet-to-be-identified middle-aged man has died while watching football at a local bar along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. It was gathered that the incident happened on Thursday, May 16. The deceased, who was a regular customer in the open bar, was said to have walked in, sat down, and started to watch a football match until he fell asleep.

9. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad has dismantled an illegal refining site containing over 100,000 litres of stolen crude oil in Adobe settlement, Etche Local Government Area, Rivers State. The Commander of the CG’s SIS, Dandaura Apollos, said the success resulted from credible intelligence indicating that suspects had vandalised a multinational company’s wellhead.

10. The Adamawa State Police Command has arrested a 23-year-old stepmother, Rachel Geoffrey, for allegedly inflicting severe burns on her 7-year-old and 3-year-old stepchildren. According to the police, the stepmother intentionally set fire to the children’s hands as punishment for eating food she had saved for their father.