Six dead, eight inured in North Waziristan Mari Petroleum’s helicopter crash

RAWALPINDI: A chartered helicopter crashed in North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing 14 passengers, here on Saturday.

As per the details, at least eight people have been injured in the copter crash.

The chartered helicopter – belonging to public limited company Mari Petroleum Limited – crashed due to technical reasons near an oil field, a company spokesman said, stressing that the accident was related to the security situation. There is no connection.

Giving details of the incident, the spokesperson said that the ill-fated aircraft was providing personal transport in Shewa Waziristan block.

The spokesperson further said that the injured are being shifted to the nearby hospital and rescue operations are going on by the Pakistan Army and others.

As per the media reports, three foreign pilots are from Russia and that the wounded have been shifted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Thal.

The accident, the sources added, occurred after the copter suffered technical difficulty as soon as it took off and met the fatal accident after its tail rotor hit the ground during an emergency landing.

Meanwhile, an investigation has been initiated into the unfortunate incident.

Helicopter crashes are not uncommon in Pakistan. In September last year, two Pakistan Navy officers and a solider were martyred after their copter crashed in Balochistan’s Gwadar.

The Pakistan Navy spokesperson revealed that the mishap happened due to a technical issue during training.

“As a result of the crash, two officers and one sailor of the Pakistan Navy embraced martyrdom,” the spokesperson said, adding that the Pakistan Navy had initiated an investigation into the incident.