Iranian president killed after his helicopter crashes in heavy fog crossing hilltop vally

ALONDON woman who says her father contracted hepatitis C after a blood transfusion today called for the Government to "take responsibility" for the scandal.

- Jitendra Joshi

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, this morning appointed first vice president Mohammad Mokhber as acting president and ordered five days of national mourning.

Mr Raisi, 63, and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian were among those found dead at the site of the crash in a steep mountain valley. They were returning from the opening of a dam project built jointly with the Azerbaijani government.

State TV stressed "bad weather conditions" with rescue teams fighting blizzards and difficult terrain through the night to reach the wreckage in the early hours.

"With the discovery of the crash site, no signs of life have been detected among the helicopter's passengers," said the head of Iran's Red Crescent, Pirhossein Kolivand.

In a photograph of the site published by state media, only the helicopter's tail appeared intact. The model was a US-made Bell 212, a veteran of the Vietnam War that was bought by Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. US sanctions have made it harder for Iran to service its ageing choppers.