Nando Times

TEHRAN, Iran (June 10, 2001 09:39 a.m. EDT) - A helicopter sent to a remote village in central Iran to help with the presidential election crashed, killing all 10 people on board, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Sunday.

The helicopter crashed Saturday near the village of Ardal, about 250 miles south of Tehran, in a mountainous region of Chaharmahal-Bakhtiyari province.

Among those killed were at least four election and security officials from Ardal, as well as a nomadic woman and her son.

The news agency had initially reported nine people killed.

It was not clear why the two nomads were on board or whether the helicopter was carrying ballot boxes from Friday's election, in which President Mohammad Khatami won a second term by a landslide.

The news agency said three helicopters had been dispatched to the province to allow voting in remote regions.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), June 10, 2001