Norway, Philippines envoys killed in Pakistan chopper crash

Islamabad: The ambassadors of the Philippines and Norway and the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors were killed on Friday when a Pakistan Army helicopter crashed on a school in Gilgit-Baltistan territory.

Director-General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major-General Asim Bajwa tweeted that two pilots were also killed in the crash, Dawn online reported.

The Polish and Dutch ambassadors were wounded in the crash, reports said.

Earlier, in a series of tweets, Bajwa said that six Pakistanis and 11 foreigners were on board the MI-17 helicopter.

Three helicopters were carrying a delegation of foreign diplomats and their wives and aides to Gilgit-Baltistan.

“It was a diplomatic trip with members of 37 countries in total,” said a passenger in one of the helicopters, who requested anonymity, adding that the school caught fire after the chopper crashed on it.

“We have been told to send in as many ambulances as we can because the situation there is urgent,” a senior official said.

The injured people were being air-lifted to the military hospital in Gilgit, added another senior local police official.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was scheduled to visit Gilgit on Friday for the inauguration of two projects.