The funeral prayers of the Director General Rangers, who was killed in a helicopter crash in Layyah, were offered at the DG Rangers headquarter in Lahore on Sunday. A helicopter carrying Director-General of Punjab Rangers Major-General Mohammad Nawaz and three others, including his son, crashed into the Indus River near Layyah district on Wednesday.
The body of DG Rangers was the last to be recovered, and is being shifted for burial to Chiniot. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Governor Punjab Latif Khan Khosa and Minister Interior Rehman Malik were amongst those who offered funeral prayers. The three other people onboard the helicopter were identified as Asif Nawaz (the director general's son, who was also his ADC), Colonel Amir Abbas (the pilot) and Subedar Ibadullah (a technician). The helicopter is reported to have lost contact with the control tower at 10 am after it was forced to change course and head to Multan because of inclement weather. The helicopter aborted a landing before it caught fire as it tried to gain altitude before crashing into the Indus River, eyewitnesses and police officials said.
The rescue team managed to salvage 90 percent of the rotorcraft's wreckage from the crash site, including the helicopter's control panel and 'black box'. Punjab DG Rangers was on a monitoring visit of a possible action against extremist elements in southern Punjab.