Pakistan Army helicopter crashes, all 22 on board killed

Altogether 22 army personnel were killed in a military helicopter crash in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, security sources said on Thursday, reported Xinhua.

The sources told Xinhua that a colonel and two majors, along with 19 other military personnel, were killed after an army aviation Mi-17 helicopter crashed near Muzaffarabad district of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir on Wednesday.

Earlier, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the helicopter crashed during take-off due to a technical fault.

"A board of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the exact technical cause of the accident," said the ISPR.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep grief and sorrow over the helicopter crash, extending heartfelt sympathies to the families of those killed in the accident.