Foreign diplomats killed in Pakistan copter crash
ISLAMABAD -- A Pakistani army helicopter carrying 11 foreigners and six Pakistanis made a crash landing in the country's north on Friday, killing two pilots and at least two foreign passengers, the military said.
The army's spokesman, Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa, tweeted that the MI-17 helicopter made the emergency landing in the northern area of Naltar.
It was unclear what caused the crash.
Bajwa said two Pakistani pilots and four foreigners were killed, including the Ambassadors of the Philippines and Norway, and the wives of the Malaysian Indonesian Ambassadors.
The surviving passengers -- approximately 12 people -- sustained a "varying degree of injuries," including the Polish and Dutch Ambassadors, Bajwa said on his Twitter feed.
The passengers were flying to the city of Gilgit where Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was to attend a public ceremony.
Sharif was in his own plane on route to Gilgit when the "tragic news" was conveyed to him, according to a statement from the prime minister's office. It said Sharif returned to Islamabad early in the wake of the crash.
It said Sharif also expressed his "deep grief and sorrow over the tragic incident" and that he "extended heartfelt condolences to those who lost their lives in this incident."