US Expresses Condolences for Death of Iranian President

Men hang a huge portrait of Iran's late President Ebrahim Raisi outside the Iranian embassy in Baghdad during a condolences service on May 20, 2024 for the president and his entourage, who were killed in a helicopter crash in Iran the previous day. (AFP)
Men hang a huge portrait of Iran's late President Ebrahim Raisi outside the Iranian embassy in Baghdad during a condolences service on May 20, 2024 for the president and his entourage, who were killed in a helicopter crash in Iran the previous day. (AFP)
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US Expresses Condolences for Death of Iranian President

Men hang a huge portrait of Iran's late President Ebrahim Raisi outside the Iranian embassy in Baghdad during a condolences service on May 20, 2024 for the president and his entourage, who were killed in a helicopter crash in Iran the previous day. (AFP)
Men hang a huge portrait of Iran's late President Ebrahim Raisi outside the Iranian embassy in Baghdad during a condolences service on May 20, 2024 for the president and his entourage, who were killed in a helicopter crash in Iran the previous day. (AFP)

The United States expressed its "official condolences" Monday for the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other officials in a helicopter crash, the State Department said.

"As Iran selects a new president, we reaffirm our support for the Iranian people and their struggle for human rights and fundamental freedoms," department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he did not have insight into the cause of the helicopter crash that killed Raisi, adding that he did not necessarily see any broader impact on regional security.

"I can't speculate on what may have been the cause," Austin told reporters. 



7 Dead, Dozens Injured after Commercial Bus Overturns in Mississippi

A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
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7 Dead, Dozens Injured after Commercial Bus Overturns in Mississippi

A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)

Seven people, including a six-year-old and 16-year-old, were killed when a bus overturned east of Vicksburg, Mississippi, early Saturday, Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey said.
The two young victims were siblings, Reuters quoted the coroner as saying.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol said the incident took place around 12:40 a.m. on Interstate 20 near Bovina in Warren County when a 2018 Volvo commercial passenger bus traveling westbound left the roadway and overturned.
Thirty-seven passengers were transported to different hospitals with unknown injuries, the agency said. It said the co-driver was not transported.
"Anytime you have people injured or killed, it's tragic but when you have a situation like this where you have multiple fatalities and multiple injuries, it makes it even worse," Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace told an ABC affiliate.
Huskey said most of the passengers on the bus were Latin American.