Pakistan helicopter crash kills 12 including 5 majors

Pakistan helicopter crash kills 12 including 5 majors AND HAWALDAR ASIF SHAHEED

 MANSEHRA: At least 12 servicemen including two pilots have reportedly been killed after a military helicopter crashed here, Samaa reported.

"The chopper accident was reported from Mohar Lassan area of the Mansehra District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. We can confirm nine fatal casualties," DPO Mansehra.

According to latest reports, Pakistan Army Aviation's  Mi17 transport helicopter, which was on its way from Rawalpindi to Chitral on a rescue mission, crashed into a field in the hilly district of Mansehra after a violent tailspin.

The accident comes after a helicopter of the Pakistan air force crashed in the flood-hit district of Chitral, although no causalities were reported.
Confirming the accident, the military sources said that pilots Major Humayon Tipu, Major Muzammil, Maj Dr Usman, Dr Maj Shehzad, Captain Atif, Lance Naik Maqbool, Lance Naik Amir Saeed, Sepoy Waqar, Havaldar Munir Abbas, Havaldar Asif, Sepoy Rehmatullah,  and nursing staff Amanullah had embraced martyrdom in the tragic accident.

At least right bodies were recovered from the site of the accident, said senior police official Nujeebur Rehman.

The charred corpses were burnt beyond recognition and the aircraft, which was carrying aid supplies, was still on fire in the evening, he added.

"An army helicopter carrying relief items crashed around 35 kilometres (around 22 miles) northwest of Mansehra this evening. Eight dead bodies have been found," Rehman told AFP.

"The accident occurred in a hilly area that is not easily accessible -- the helicopter is still on fire," he said.

An official of the military's media wing confirmed the incident, adding that the helicopter was carrying relief items and medicines to the northern city of Gilgit.