An army MI-17 helicopter carrying a medical evacuation team crashed. PHOTO: AFP
CHITRAL/ MANSEHRA:
Two military helicopters engaged in flood rescue and relief operations crashed in Khyber-Pakhtunkwha’s Mansehra and Chitral districts on Thursday, killing 10 passengers and the two pilots in one chopper and injuring several in the other chopper.
The army’s MI-17 air-ambulance chopper, which took off from Rawalpindi for Gilgit-Baltistan carrying a medical team, went down in the Rani Bat area of Koh-e-Bhaingra hill, some 65 kilometres from Mansehra, officials said.
According to military sources, 12 people were onboard including a team of army doctors, paramedics, pilots and crew members. The crash was apparently caused by adverse weather conditions, they added.
Soon after the helicopter hit the ground it caught fire and explosions were also heard, eyewitnesses said.
The military has been operating helicopter flights in the region to boost its flood relief and rescue efforts.
Rescue workers were trying to reach the crash site till our going to the press.
Chitral copter crash
Earlier, in a separate incident a military helicopter busy in rescue operation made an emergency landing in Chitral, leaving the copter partially damaged and injuring some of the passengers onboard.
Initially, the copter landed at Kahoot area, situated some 150 kilometres away from Chitral city, was loaded with relief goods including medicines, food items and a dead body. After boarding of 13 people, marooned in the area due to floods, it took off for Chitral but developed some technical faults which led to a crash-landing by hitting a tree before it touched the ground.
“Some smoke erupted from the crashed helicopter,” Mohammad Hayat, an eyewitness, said. Some of the passengers also sustained minor injuries, he added.
Besides others, DSP Darosh Mohammad Zafar was also among the people on board.
Later, another helicopter left for Kahoot from Chitral for rescue work.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain have expressed their deep grief over the tragic helicopter crash near Mansehra. They conveyed their condolences to the families of officers and jawans who embraced martyrdom in the fatal accident.
List of fatalities
• Maj Humayun, pilot
• Maj Muzzammil, pilot
• Maj Dr Shahzad
• Maj Dr Atif
• Maj Dr Usman
• Havaldar Munir Abbasi, flight engineer
• Havaldar Asif, crew chief
• Naik Amir Saeed, technician
• Naik Maqbool
• Sepoy Rehmattullah
• Sepoy Waqar
• Nursing Ammanullah
Published in The Express Tribune, August 7th, 2015.
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