Armenian PM's helicopter forced to make 'emergency landing' due to bad weather

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced on Saturday that the helicopter carrying him was forced to make an emergency landing due to adverse weather conditions, in an incident that resulted in no casualties.

He said in a Facebook post, "Everything is fine. Due to bad weather, our helicopter made an unexpected landing in Vanadzor. We will continue our journey now by car."

Vanadzor is located in a valley in the mountainous region of northern Armenia.

Pashinyan faces protests in his country over the return of four bordering villages to Azerbaijan, and Baku's victories in the recent wars over Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020 and 2023, as well as its control over the enclave inhabited by tens of thousands of Armenians.

The helicopter incident involving Pashinyan comes days after the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister and entourage in a helicopter crash in a mountainous area in northwest Iran on May 19, amid poor weather conditions.

AFP