Update: The death toll has reached seven with the crash killing four foreigners — ambassadors to Islamabad from the Philippines and Norway, as well as the wives of the ambassadors from Malaysia and Indonesia — and a three-member crew.
TWO AMBASSADORS to Pakistan and the wives of two others were killed yesterday when an army helicopter crashed into a school in the country’s mountainous north.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for downing the helicopter, one of three travelling to the opening of a chairlift at a ski resort, attended by Nawaz Sharif, the prime minister.
However, this was denied by Major-General Asim Bajwa, a Pakistan army spokesman, who said that a “technical fault” had forced the pilot to attempt an emergency landing for the crash.
Leif H Larsen, Norway’s envoy to Islamabad, and Domingo D Lucenario Jr, of the Philippines, were killed, as were the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors. Both pilots were also killed, according to the army, while two other ambassadors, Andrzej Ananiczolish, of Poland, and Marcel de Vink, of the Netherlands, were injured.
Other passengers on the helicopter who survived included Emilian Ion, Romania’s ambassador to Pakistan. The ambassadors of South Africa and Lebanon were also on board, according to a flight list.
Shakil Ahmed, a farmer, saw the helicopter crash into the roof of Naltar ski school from his house 100m away.
“The helicopter came very close to the helipad, maybe 250m in the air, just above the school,” he said. “It hovered there for a while and then tried to turn when it crashed. Thankfully there were no kids in the school because it was an off-day for security reasons. The helicopter caught fire and was on fire for over an hour.”
Mr Sharif, who was travelling separately to the Gilgit-Baltistan region, expressed his deep grief and sorrow.
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