Two foreign envoys among seven killed in Pakistani chopper crash

A PAKISTANI military helicopter crashed yesterday, killing seven people, including Norwegian and Philippine envoys and setting a school building ablaze in a remote northern valley.

The Pakistani Taliban later claimed the group had struck the aircraft with a ground-to-air missile hoping to assassinate Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was flying to the region at the same time -- but the claim was rebutted by officials and eye-witnesses.

The helicopter was one of three carrying a delegation of ambassadors to inspect projects on a three-day trip to Gilgit-Baltistan, where they were set to meet with Sharif.

The military and Pakistan’s foreign office said the crash was due to a technical fault while landing. Officials said the school was shut at the time.

“The matter will be investigated as initial reports suggest it was a technical fault,” the Ministry of Defence said.

A statement by Sharif’s office had said he was on a plane en route to the Gilgit area at the time of the incident, but turned back to Islamabad after news of the crash broke.

He was due to inaugurate a chair-lift at a ski resort, one of the region’s top administrative officials said.

Leif H Larsen, the Norwegian envoy, and Domingo D Lucenario Jr of the Philippines were killed along with the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors, as well as the helicopter’s two pilots and another crew member, according to official tweets by the army.

Norway’s foreign office confirmed the death of its diplomat. The Indonesian foreign ministry in a statement confirmed the death of the ambassador’s wife, Heri Listyawati Burhan Muhammad, but said that Ambassador Burhan Muhammad was safe though he had sustained injuries.

Sharif “expressed deep grief and sorrow” and announced a day of mourning, according to his office.

Polish ambassador Andrzej Ananiczolish and Dutch ambassador Marcel de Vink were also injured, the army said.

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Vink’s injury.

A police official said: “I was watching the helicopters arriving . . . it was their third or fourth trip. One helicopter suddenly [started] whirling and went down with a bang, then there were flames.”