A Pakistani military helicopter carrying senior foreign diplomats to Naltar in the mountainous region of Gilgit-Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region has crashed into a military school building while landing, killing 7 of 17 on board.
Norwegian Ambassador Leif Larsen, Philippine Ambassador Domingo Lucenario, the wives of ambassadors of Indoesian and Malaysia,two pilots and a crew member were killed, military spokesman Asim Bajwa said in a series of Twitter posts.
Polish ambassador Andrzej Ananiczolish and Dutch ambassador Marcel de Vink were among those who were injured "to varying degrees".
Romania's ambassador Emilian Ion, was on the same helicopter and survived, the Romanian Foreign Ministry said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was scheduled to attend a resort project inauguration ceremony, but his plane turned back to Islamabad from Gilgit after he was briefed.
Sharif extended heartfelt condolences to those who lost their lives in the incident and announced a day of mourning in the country, according to his office, which said helicopters were evacuating the injured to hospitals and that the bodies were being transported to Islamabad.
Bajwal tweeted that the helicopter that had what he called "a crash landing" was one of three Mi-17 helicopters, and the two landed safely.
According to him, the crash was caused by a technical fault during landing.
The foreign ministry issued a statement, saying heads of diplomatic missions of more than 30 countries and their family members as well as some Pakistani dignitaries were flown to Gilgit on board C-130 aircraft on Friday morning and they were being taken from Gilgit to Naltar in four helicopters on a three-day excursion trip.
Media reports identified the two pilots as Major Altamash and Major Faisal, and the crewmember as Naib Subedar Zakir.
A statement by police office said the injured were being air lifted to a military hospital in Gilgit.
While Taliban claimed responsibility, the ministry of defense issued a statement saying it was investigating the cause of the crash, which, according to initial information, was due to a technical fault.
Russian-made Mi-17 (Nato code Hip) twin-turbine helicopters are widely used by Pakistani Army for both cargo and passenger transportation.
The United States handed over 4 Mi-17 cargo helicopters to the Pakistan Army to facilitate its counter-terrorism operations on 11 June 2009 after an urgent request by Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff General, according to a leaked US embassy cable published on Wikileaks.
Due to their very fundamental design and mechanics, helicopters generally have a higher risk exposure than fixed-wing aircraft and require constant and costy maintenance.
Update Naltar:Accident cause-As per initial info,2 heli landed safely while 3rd developed tech fault while landing-7
— AsimBajwaISPR (@AsimBajwaISPR) May 8, 2015
Update Naltar:7 Fatalities.Foreigners-4(Ambs Norway,Philipine,wife of Amb Indonesia,Malaysia).Pakistani-3; two pilots,one crew member-6— AsimBajwaISPR (@AsimBajwaISPR) May 8, 2015
