The ambassadors of the Philippines and Norway and the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassador were among six people killed in a helicopter crash in the Naltar Valley of northern Pakistan on Friday, a Defense Ministry spokesman said.
Spokesman Asim Bajwa also said via Twitter that the Dutch ambassador and Polish ambassadors were injured in the crash in the scenic valley, located about 45 kilometers northeast of Gilgit, the capital city of Gilgit-Baltistan autonomous region.
Earlier, Bajwa said the Mi-17 helicopter that crashed was one of three carrying diplomats and other dignitaries who had planned to attend the inauguration of a chairlift project there.
Bajwa said in a tweet that two pilots were among the dead and that 17 people — 11 foreigners and six Pakistanis — were in the helicopter when it went down.
A Japanese diplomat said that Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan Hiroshi Inomata was in one of the two helicopters that had landed safely at the site.
According to an eyewitness account, the helicopter crash-landed at a school building and caught fire. But there were no children in the school at the time as they were on holiday.