A Pakistan Army aviation helicopter carrying six senior military officers, including a top commander of XII Corps, has crashed near Lasbela, Balochistan while on a flood relief operation after losing contact with air traffic control.
Lieutenant General Sarfraz Ali, commander XII Corps, is said to be among those on board the helicopter which was assisting with flood relief work in the area. Along with Lieutenant Sarfaraz, Major General Amjad, Brigadier Khalid, Major Saeed, Major Talha and Crew Chief Mudassir also embraced martyrdom.
According to the details by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the accident occurred due to bad weather.
The wreckage of unfortunate hel which was on flood relief ops found in Musa Goth, Windar, Lasbela. All 6 offrs & sldrs incl Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali embraced shahadat. اِنّا لِلَّٰهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
Accident occurred due to bad weather as per initial investigations . DTF pic.twitter.com/dnyano2vqC— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) August 2, 2022
The helicopter, which was on a flood relief mission, took off from an area called Uthal, and was headed for the Pakistan Air Force base in Masroor in Karachi before it disappeared.
Soon after the news broke out, #LieutenantGeneralSarfrazAli became the top twitter trends in Pakistan and people all across the country came together to pray for the martyrs.
A Pakistan army aviation helicopter which was on flood relief operations in Lasbela, Balochistan lost contact with ATC. 6 individuals were on board including Commander 12 Corps who was supervising flood relief operations in Balochistan. Search operation is underway.DTF
— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) August 1, 2022
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The debris of the crashed chopper was found after a search and rescue mission was launched. The sources say that it is too early to figure out the reason of the crash.
Balochistan has been facing heavy rains and floods which have wreaked havoc in the province. The death toll from devastating floods rose to 149 including 46 children on August 1.
The Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps and Pakistan Navy have been conducting rescue operations in the province.
According to a report released by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, a total of 13,535 houses have collapsed or are partially damaged due to the ongoing heavy rains and floods.
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Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reviewed relief efforts in Balochistan and ordered authorities to distribute compensation money to those affected by the floods within 24 hours.