ISLAMABAD — An international tour of a scenic corner of northern Pakistan ended in tragedy Friday when a Pakistani military helicopter carrying foreign diplomats went down in a fiery crash that killed seven people aboard, including the ambassadors from Norway and the Philippines.
The helicopter, which officials said was carrying 19 people, crashed into a school while making a landing in Naltar, a valley in the Gilgit district of northern Pakistan.
In a briefing Friday night, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, said that initial investigation suggested that the engine of the helicopter failed while it was approaching the landing site. He dismissed a claim by the Pakistani Taliban that they had shot the helicopter down with a shoulder-fired missile. ”
The dead included Ambassador Leif H. Larsen of Norway and Ambassador Domingo D. Lucenario Jr. of the Philippines, the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors, and the helicopter’s two pilots and a crew member, the Pakistani military said.
In addition, the Polish ambassador, Andrzej Ananicz, and the Dutch ambassador, Marcel de Vink, were among the injured, said Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa, a spokesman for the Pakistani military.
In a phone interview, Piar Ali, a tourist who was staying at a hotel near the site, said the sound of the helicopter crashing into the back end of the Army Public School in Naltar sent him running to view the scene. “I came out and started making a video,” he said. “I saw the helicopter in flames, and soon afterward the school building also caught fire.”
The helicopter was one of several aircraft flying in to celebrate the inauguration of a tourism project in Gilgit-Baltistan, the Pakistani-controlled part of the Kashmir region.
A statement by the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, the heads of diplomatic missions of more than 30 countries and family members, as well as some Pakistani dignitaries, had been flown in a C-130 aircraft Friday morning from Islamabad, the capital, to Gilgit.
From there, they were being taken to Naltar in Russian-made Mi-17 transport helicopters for a three-day excursion, the statement said.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan was en route to the ceremony in his own plane when he was told about the crash.
Sharif then turned back to Islamabad and later expressed deep grief and sorrow over the crash, his office said.
The prime minister also announced a day of mourning.
“The government and people of Pakistan are deeply saddened over the tragic death of foreigners in the unfortunate incident and equally share the grief of the affected families,” President Mamnoon Hussain said.