KERMAN -- An official source in the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said yesterday that operations to transfer bodies of the victims of the last week's crash of an IRGC plane finished by Tuesday evening.

Director of Public Relations Office of the IRGC Brigade 41, Mohammad-Mahdi Abolhassani, said that the bodies were taken down the mountains.

Abolhassani added that several recovery teams from the provincial Red Crescent Society, the IRGC, the Commando Unit of Ground Force of Kerman as well as mountaineers from the province helped recover the bodies.

Also in another development, a special team from the Coroner's Office yesterday left for Kerman to expedite the process to identify the victims and facilitate due legal proceedings.

The team comprises experts from provinces of Tehran, Sistan-Baluchestan, Hormozgan, Fars, Yazd, and Isfahan, IRNA reported.

A Russian-built Ilyushin-76 with 276 IRGC members on board last Wednesday crashed into the Sirch Mountain, southeastern Province of Kerman. Nobody onboard survived the accident.