SHAHR-E KORD Bad weather caused the crash of an Iranian helicopter which went down last week in a remote region in the southwest of the country, killing all 10 on board, an army officer in central Isfahan, Brigadier Ezzatollah Fat'hi, said on Thursday.

The propeller of the helicopter was broken after hitting a rock in the corrugated mountainous region after it was hit by a gust of strong wind during its flight and which caused the crash, he said.

He said a delegation had been dispatched to the region to either salvage wreckage left by the helicopter or destroy it entirely.

The helicopter was carrying ballot boxes for the presidential election in Landi region, near the town of Ardal, Saturday when the crash occurred.

Besides the pilot, copilot and two technical engineers of the ill-fated helicopter, six other people including election supervisors, a deputy governor, an information official, a regional police chief and a nomad and his daughter were among those killed.

Iranian authorities had sent three helicopters to ferry ballot boxes from mountain villages in the southwestern Province of Chahar-Mahal and Bakhtiari.