Saudi honeymooner found dead in Iran after aerial tour

Iranian police are investigating the death of a newlywed man whose body was found in the Caspian Sea on Monday, Al-Hayat reported.

Habib Shuaib Al-Bikhait, on his honeymoon after his marriage two weeks ago, was discovered by fishermen after he went on a tour in a plane that then disappeared, said the victim’s uncle Jawad Bin Maan.

The uncle said: “He took his wife to Iran for their honeymoon.

“He suggested to his wife to go on this tour via plane but she refused because she was too scared and had never been on a plane before.

“He decided to go on it anyways and told her he’d return in half an hour.”

Al-Bikhait’s brother Salman said they talked over the phone about an hour before he disappeared.

Salman said he and his brother got married on the same night.

He said: “I chose to take my wife to America for our honeymoon and he chose to head for the north of Iran.

“His wife refused to get on the plane as it was too small to fit more than two people. He told his wife he would be back in half an hour and she sat up waiting until sunset with no news of him.”

He added that Tehran police began searching for Habib Al-Bikhait with the Saudi Embassy for an entire week.

“A week later Tehran police were contacted by fishermen about a body they caught in the Caspian Sea. The identity of the corpse was confirmed to be my brother.

“The Saudi Embassy arranged for my father and I to go to Iran and bury my brother in Qom as he wished.”

A spokesman for Iranian authorities, Rustum Zaroudi, said police are still searching for the plane and its pilot Ali Riza Zad Mahdi Qali.

Zaroudi said: “The plane belonged to a private company that organized aerial tours.

“The company uses commercial, entertainment and training planes. The plane that went missing was heading toward Kilan Province but the navigation tower lost track of its signal due to the thick fog.”

This story was originally posted on the Saudi Gazette on Feb. 10, 2015.