Pakistani army helicopter feared crashed after losing contact with ATC

A Pakistan Army helicopter carrying six individuals, including two top commanders, is feared to have crashed while on a flood relief operation in the restive Balochistan province on Monday after losing contact with air traffic control.

The helicopter, which took off from an area called Uthal, was headed for the Pakistan Air Force base in Masroor in Karachi before it disappeared and lost contact with ATC.

Major General Babar Iftikhar, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations - the media wing of Pakistan's armed forces, said the helicopter was on a flood relief operation.

"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. The search operation is underway," Iftikhar tweeted.

A police source said that the helicopter apparently crashed near a place called Sassi Pannu in a mountainous region off Lasbela. Police teams which have reached there found no survivors.

The local area police received a call from some residents of the area that they had seen a helicopter crash, the source said.

According to another source, the search and rescue operation team will require at least three hours to reach the crash site, but police teams have arrived there.

The passengers included two top commanders, Director General of the Pakistan Coast Guards Major General Amjad and Lieutenant General Sarfaraz Ahmad, Commander 12 Corps.

Lt General Sarfaraz was seen as the next potential Chief of the Army Staff after the retirement of Lt General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the current army chief.