Death toll from helicopter crash in Pakistan rises to 12

Official sources yesterday confirmed that an MI-17 helicopter of the Pakistan Army was en route to Gilgit from Rawalpindi when it crashed near Mansehra.

The helicopter caught fire following the crash and the local people pulled out the nine bodies from it, Xinhua reported.

The deceased have been identified as Major Muzammil, Major Hummayun, Major Dr. Shahzad, Major Dr. Atif, Major Dr. Usman, Hawaldar Munir Abbasi, Naek Amir Saeed, Naek Maqbool, Nursin Assistant Amanullah, Sepoy Rehmatullah and Sepoy Waqar.

Earlier in the week, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had requested the government for two helicopters to carry out relief and rescue work in the flood affected areas of the province.

He said it appeared the helicopter may have crashed due to bad weather. Three crew members from the army were also killed at the time.

It is the second military helicopter crash in the area in the last three months.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan and other political leaders have expressed grief over incident and extended condolence to their families.

The accident came only hours after a Pakistani air force helicopter crashed in the flood-hit district of Chitral. incidents involved Russian-built Mi-17 helicopters, they are used by air forces across the world but which have had a safety record in recent years.

In that incident, the Ambassador of Philippines Domingo D Lucenario Jr, Ambassador of Norway Leif Larsen and the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors were among seven people killed in the helicopter crash in Naltar Valley located in the Gilgit Baltistan region on May 8, 2015.