Key facts
- An Mi-17 helicopter of the Pakistan Army Aviation crashed near Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
- The crash occurred due to a technical fault during take-off.
- At least 22 military personnel, including three officers, were killed.
- The army confirmed the crash but did not initially provide a death toll.
- Funeral prayers for the deceased were held on Thursday.
An Mi-17 helicopter belonging to the Pakistan Army Aviation crashed near Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on Wednesday, resulting in the deaths of all personnel on board. The army stated the crash was due to a technical fault during take-off, though it did not initially release the number of casualties.
However, BBC Urdu, citing a security official, reported that 22 military personnel, including one colonel and two majors, were killed in the incident. Funeral prayers for the deceased were held on Thursday before their bodies were transported to their home areas for burial. Official confirmation of the death toll and the identities of those killed is still pending.
This incident is not the first involving an Mi-17 helicopter; in September of the previous year, a similar crash killed five security personnel, and in May 2015, seven people, including foreign ambassadors, died in a helicopter crash in Gilgit-Baltistan.