A charter helicopter crash in northern Pakistan on Saturday resulted in at least six fatalities, according to security sources who spoke on condition of anonymity due to lack of authorization to discuss the incident publicly.
The helicopter, chartered by a private company in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, went down shortly after takeoff in the volatile North Waziristan area near the Afghan border.
The sources reported that approximately 14 passengers were on board, including Russian pilots. Eight people were injured in the crash and have been hospitalized in nearby facilities.
This incident adds to a series of air accidents that have affected both Pakistan’s armed forces and civilian aviation sector over the past decade. In 2022, a military helicopter on a training exercise crashed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, claiming the lives of both pilots.
One of the most devastating incidents occurred in 2020 when a Pakistan International Airlines Airbus jet crashed into a crowded residential district of Karachi, resulting in the deaths of most of the 99 people on board.
The cause of Saturday’s crash is yet to be determined. Authorities are expected to launch an investigation into the incident, which highlights ongoing safety concerns in Pakistan’s aviation sector.
The North Waziristan area, where the crash occurred, has a history of instability and has been a focus of military operations against militant groups in recent years.
