• Chopper crashes near Harnai district’s Khost city.
• Helicopter crash claims lives of six Pakistan Army officials.
• Two majors, two sepoys, one subedar, one naik martyred.

RAWALPINDI: Two Pakistan Army majors were among six military personnel who were martyred when a helicopter crash occurred in Balochistan, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said Monday.

The unfortunate incident occurred during a flying mission near Harnai district’s Khost city late last night, the military’s media wing mentioned in its statement.

The press statement read that among the six personnel were two pilots as well who lost their lives.

Major Khurram Shahzad, 39, was a resident of Attock who has left behind a wife and daughter. Major Muhammad Muneeb Afzal, 30, was a resident of Rawalpindi and is survived by a wife and two sons.

Subedar Abdul Wahid, 44. hailed from Karak’s Sabir Abad village and has left behind a wife and four children, while sepoy Muhammad Imran, 27, was a resident of Khanewal’s Makhdoompur and is survived by a wife and three children.

Naik Jalil, 30, was a resident of Gujarat’s village Bhutta. He left behind a wife and two children. Sepoy Shoaib, 35, was a resident of Attock’s Khatarphatti village. He is survived by a wife and child.

Last chopper crash

In August, a Pakistan Army helicopter — that had gone missing for a day — had also crashed, leaving the same number of military personnel martyred.

The chopper was found in Musa Goth, Windar, Lasbela.

It had gone missing en route to Karachi from Quetta at around 5:30pm. The personnel in the chopper were overseeing flood relief efforts in the southwest of the country.

Above normal monsoon rains and deadly flooding have hit Pakistan hard this year, killing more than 1,600 people so far and wreaking havoc, particularly in Balochistan and Sindh.

The ISPR, in a statement, said the accident occurred due to “bad weather” as per an initial investigation.