At least 22 military personnel were reported killed when a Russian-built Mi-17 transport helicopter crashed near Muzaffarabad during take-off. The ISPR said the crash was due to a technical fault and has ordered a board of inquiry, while international news agencies citing security sources put the death toll at 22. The victims, said to include one colonel and two majors, received formal military burials, and national leaders expressed sorrow. The accident occurred amid heightened security and recent deadly unrest in the region.
At Least 22 Killed as Pakistani Military Mi-17 Helicopter Crashes Near Muzaffarabad
Pakistani Army officers and mourners offer prayers at the funeral of soldiers following the army helicopter crash near Muzaffarabad [Naseer Ud Din/Reuters]
At least 22 military personnel died after a Russian-built Mi-17 transport helicopter crashed close to Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Wednesday, security sources and international news agencies reported. Video footage circulating after the incident showed thick black smoke rising behind a cluster of buildings immediately following the crash.
The military's media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said the helicopter "crashed ... during take-off due to a technical fault," and that all personnel on board were killed, though the ISPR did not provide an official casualty figure. Reuters, Anadolu and the Associated Press, quoting security sources, put the death toll at 22.
Casualties and Funeral
Security sources told Reuters the dead included one colonel, two officers of major rank and 19 soldiers. On Thursday the fallen received formal military burials, with flag-draped coffins carried by an artillery unit stationed in Kashmir. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued statements expressing deep grief and sorrow.
Investigation and Official Response
The ISPR said a board of inquiry has been ordered "to ascertain the exact technical cause of the accident." Chief of the Army Staff, Gen. Asim Munir, and army personnel across the ranks "express deep grief over the tragic loss of precious lives," the ISPR added.
Context And Safety Concerns
The crash occurred amid heightened security in the sensitive border region after the local government imposed strict movement restrictions following violent weekend clashes between security forces and a newly banned alliance of civil society groups that left at least 11 people dead. Officials have strongly rejected any link between the unrest and the aviation accident.
The Pakistan Army has long relied on Soviet-designed Mi-17 helicopters for transport and high-altitude operations. The type has been a workhorse in the country’s rugged northern terrain but has been involved in occasional fatal accidents over the past decade. Authorities say Pakistan has refurbished and overhauled 22 of its Mi-17 helicopters with assistance from the United States.
Investigators are expected to release findings once the board completes its inquiry. Until then, military and independent sources continue to piece together the sequence of events that led to the crash.
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