Diplomatic Crash

A military helicopter carrying diplomats to inspect a tourism project crashed on Friday killing seven people, including the ambassadors of Norway and the Philippines and the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was travelling to the mountainous northern region of Gilgit on a separate aircraft when the accident happened. He returned to Islamabad, his office said.
-- Ambassadors killed, injured
-- TTP claims the group struck the helicopter 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 rebutted by officials and multiple eye-witnesses Norwegian Ambassador Leif Larsen, Philippine Ambassador Domingo Lucenario and the wives of the ambassadors of Malaysia and Indonesia were killed, along with two pilots and a crew member, military spokesman Asim Bajwa said in Twitter posts. He said initial information indicated the cause was a technical fault.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed they shot down the aircraft but witnesses on the ground, and in other helicopters on the trip, reported nothing to indicate any firing. Malaysian state media identified the wife of the ambassador as Habibah Mahmud, while Indonesia said its ambassador Burhan Muhammad was injured and his wife, Heri Listyawati Burhan Muhammad, was killed.
Bajwa said the ambassadors of Poland and the Netherlands were among the injured. The ambassadors of South Africa, Lebanon and Romania were also on board, according to a flight list obtained by Reuters. The Romanian Foreign Ministry said its ambassador was alive and uninjured. An official in Gilgit said nine people had been killed. "The bodies are so badly torched that they can't be identified," said Sibtain Ahmed, the home secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan. The Foreign Office said 17 people were on board the Mi-17 when it crashed into a school in Gilgit and caught fire. Media said there were 11 foreigners and six Pakistanis.
GOOD REPUTATION Farmer Shakil Ahmed saw the helicopter crash into the school roof from his house about 100 metres away. "The helicopter came very close to the helipad, maybe 250 meters in the air, just above the school," Ahmed told Reuters. "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." Pakistani Taliban militants said they brought down the helicopter with a shoulder-launched missile, adding they had been hoping to shoot down Sharif's aircraft.
"Nawaz Sharif and his allies are our prime targets," Taliban spokesman Muhammad Khurasani said in an emailed statement. Gilgit, about 250 km (150 miles) north of Islamabad, is not a militant stronghold and the Taliban often claim responsibility for incidents that they had nothing to do with.
The Mi-17 is considered a reliable, no-frills helicopter, first built by Russians for use in hot and high conditions in Asia, said James Hardy, the Asia-Pacific editor for IHS Jane's Defence Weekly. "The military has a lot of money and a good reputation for looking after its equipment," he said. "The air force is well trained and highly professional."
The Pakistan military was believed to operate about 29 Mi-17s and the air force about six, he said. Media have reported four other Mi-17 crashes in Pakistan in the last 11 years. TTP claims the group 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 rebutted by officials and multiple 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 Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The military and Pakistan's foreign office said the crash was due to a technical fault while landing. Officials added 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 in a statement. He was due to inaugurate a chair-lift at a ski resort, one of the region's top administrative officials told AFP. 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. A local police official on duty near the site told AFP: "I was watching the helicopters arriving, they were coming since the morning, it was their third or fourth trip.
"One helicopter suddenly whirling at its place and went down with a bang, then there were flames." An emergency medic who was deployed nearby ahead of the inauguration ceremony said the helicopter only exploded and caught fire after landing. "The pilot was gesturing at us to come and help him. We rushed there, broke the windows, and started dragging people out.
"After some minutes, there was an explosion, injuring some of the medics too." Two other eye-witnesses interviewed by AFP also said they did not see the chopper being hit by a missile. According to a list of passengers obtained by AFP, the ambassadors of Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Romania, Norway, South Africa, the Philippines and Poland were scheduled to fly on the helicopter.
"It was a diplomatic trip with members of 37 countries in total," said a passenger in one of the helicopters, who requested anonymity, concurring that the school had caught fire after the crash. The passenger added that the air convoy was supposed to have included four helicopters but the number was later reduced to three. The Russian-built Mi-17, used by air forces across the world, has had a patchy safety record in recent years.
In the city of Gilgit, the region's administrative capital, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) to the south-west, a hospital official said the injured were carried on stretchers to the emergency ward of the Combined Military Hospital. Known for its spectacular mountain ranges, Gilgit-Baltistan is a strategically important autonomous region that borders China, Afghanistan and Indian-held Kashmir.
BR staff reporters Wasim Iqbal and Fazal Sher add: Four foreigners, two pilots and one crew member were killed when a Pakistan Army Aviation Corps Mil Mi-17 made a crash landing in Naltar Gilgit District of Gilgit-Baltistan on Friday, according to ISPR. Among the killed were Ambassador of Philippines to Pakistan Domingo D. Lucenario Jr., Ambassador of Norway to Pakistan Leif Larsen and the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors. Polish ambassador Andrzej Ananiczolish and Dutch ambassador Marcel de Vink were injured. The army pilots were identified as Major Altamash and Major Faisal.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for shooting down the helicopter. However, DG ISPR ruled out the possibility of any terrorist activity and stated that the helicopter crashed due to a technical fault. Shortly after the incident, the injured were taken to the emergency ward of the Combined Military Hospital, Gilgit. The arrangements were being made by the Pakistan Air Force to bring the bodies of the ambassadors and the wives of two other envoys to Islamabad.
According to spokesman of Pakistan Air Force C-130 plan reached Gilgit to shift dead bodies and injured to Islamabad. In a statement, ISPR said," One MI-17 helicopter out of three carrying visitors had a crash landing at Naltar. A total of 11 foreigners and 6 Pakistani passengers were on board". Meanwhile, the Foreign Office in Islamabad has informed the respective governments about the tragic incident.
President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have expressed grief and sorrow over the incident. Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif has announced that the families of the pilots and crew member, who lost their lives in Naltar accident, would be looked after by the government. He assured that the matter will be investigated as initial reports suggest it was a technical fault. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has declared one-day mourning over the Naltar helicopter crash. On his directions, aircraft and helicopters have been sent to evacuate injured diplomats. On the directions of the prime minister, arrangements have also been made to transport dead bodies to Islamabad.