Rescue operation on the helicopter crash site has been completed and bodies of army officers have been shifted to Rawalpindi on Friday. At least twelve people including military doctors, paramedics and crew member lost their lives when the helicopter suddenly went down in Lassan Nawab area of Mansehra district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Thursday.
The deceased have been identified as Major Muzammil, Major Hummayun, Major Dr Shahzad, Major Dr Atif, Major Dr Usman, Hawaldar Munir Abbasi, Naek Amir Saeed, Naek Maqbool, Nursin Assistant Amanullah, Sepoy Rehmatullah and Sepoy Waqar. The ill-fated helicopter had taken off from Rawalpindi, a garrison city near the federal capital, to evacuate a critically ill soldier from the northern city of Gilgit. The incident is the second fatal crash involving Pakistani military helicopters this year. In May, a helicopter crash the Gilgit-Baltistan region killed seven people, including three ambassadors.