It was announced today that seven people, including two diplomats, were killed in a helicopter crash in Northern Pakistan. Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa, a spokesperson for the Pakistan army, reported via Twitter that there were survivors that had sustained various injuries. Among those that were killed in the Pakistan helicopter crash were two ambassadors, one from Norway and the other from the Philippines.
Trip to Visit Tourist Project
The helicopter was one of three flying a group of foreign diplomats, along with their aides and wives, to the inauguration of a tourist project in Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was in the group going to the site, but he was travelling in a different aircraft when the Pakistan helicopter crash occurred. He then returned to Islamabad.
Norwegian ambassador, Leif H. Larsen, was killed, along with the Philippines’ ambassador, Domingo D. Lucenario Jr. Habibah Mahmud, the wife of the Malaysian ambassador and Heri Listyawati Burhan Muhammad, the wife of the Indonesian ambassador, Burhan Muhammad, were killed, as well. Burhan Muhammad was injured in the Pakistan helicopter crash. Seven people were killed when the helicopter crashed into a school, although no one was in the school at the time. The two pilots that were killed were later identified as Major Altamish and Major Faisal. Also, among those injured are ambassadors from the Netherlands and Poland. Others aboard the helicopter were ambassadors from Lebanon, Romania and South Africa.
Updates via Twitter About The Pakistan Helicopter Crash
Major Asim Saleem Bajway kept everyone up to date about the Pakistan helicopter crash via Twitter. The helicopter was a Mi-17 and was carrying a total of seventeen people. A witness stated that the helicopter was near the landing pad at the time it crashed into the roof of a nearby school.
Preliminary reports say that the Mi-17 crashed due to a technical fault, although a further investigation will be held. Pakistan Taliban took credit for downing the crashed helicopter, but witness reports state that there were clearly no rockets or firing of any kind of weapons to have brought down the helicopter.
Investigations are being conducted to establish the cause of the crash. Security sources have revealed that the likely issue had to do with the tail rotor of the helicopter. The helicopter, and the pilots, lost control before it travelled into the roof of the school. Immediately after the Pakistan helicopter crash, a fire was ignited, making it difficult initially to identify some of the victims.
