Helicopter crash that killed envoys accidental –Pakistan

In this still image taken from video, a man watches smoke rising from an empty burning building, belonging to an army school, where a Pakistani army helicopter crashed in Nalter Valley, Gilgit, Pakistan, Friday, May 8, 2015. The ambassadors to Pakistan from the Philippines and Norway and the wives of the ambassadors from Malaysia and Indonesia were killed Friday when a Pakistani army helicopter carrying foreign dignitaries made a crash landing in the country’s north, the military said. (AP Photo)

JAKARTA — The Pakistani Embassy in Jakarta stated on Friday that the crash of a helicopter in which six people including Hery Listyawati, the wife of the Indonesian ambassador to Pakistan, were killed was not the result of a terrorist attack.

READ: Norwegian, Philippine envoys among 7 dead in Pakistan chopper crash

READ: Pakistan Army rules out terror plot; Taliban claims helicopter downing

The embassy’s defense attache, Muhammad Shahid Siddeq, denied reports that the Pakistani military helicopter, which was carrying mostly foreign diplomats and their spouses, was shot down by the Taliban.

The Pakistani Taliban’s spokesman said on Friday the group had struck the aircraft with a ground-to-air missile hoping to assassinate Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif — who officials said had been travelling to the same region in a plane.

Siddeq explained that the crash area, located in the Naltar Valley in Gilgit in Pakistan’s north, was an area free of Taliban activity.

“The crash happened after the helicopter experienced technical difficulties 30 feet from where it was supposed to land. There were many ground witnesses to the crash. It is currently still under investigation,” Siddeq told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

He confirmed that Hery, the wife of Indonesian ambassador to Pakistan Burhan Muhammad, was among the fatalities.

Ambassador Burhan meanwhile sustained injuries during the crash that are not deemed to be critical.

Those injured in the crash included the Dutch, Romanian, Lebanese and Polish ambassadors. The wife of the Malaysian ambassador was also killed in the crash as well as the Philippine and Norwegian ambassadors.

The diplomats were scheduled to attend an inauguration of a project in Gilgit.