Air crash blamed on fault

PAKISTAN’S AIR force says a technical fault caused a deadly helicopter crash in the country’s north, and that a fire that subsequently broke out on the aircraft caused the high number of fatalities.

Four foreigners – the ambassadors from the Philippines and Norway, and the wives of the ambassadors from Malaysia and Indonesia – were among those killed in the crash on Friday, along with two pilots and a crew member.

Air force spokesman Syed Muhammad Ali told the state-run news agency that the technical failure forced the crash landing and that the helicopter caught fire when it went down in the village of Naltar.

The diplomats were being flown to Naltar to witness the inauguration of a chairlift at a ski resort as part of a tourism promotion.

Earlier, the Pakistani Taliban claimed it shot down the helicopter with a missile.

Pakistani army spokesman, Major General Asim Bajwa, tweeted that the surviving passengers, including the Dutch and Polish ambassadors, suffered ‘‘ varying degree of injuries’’.

Hussain Khan, a police officer at Naltar, said he saw the helicopter stall in midair, then come down in an erratic manner as if the pilot had no control over it.

‘‘The helicopter was preparing to land at a helipad near a school, when it suddenly . . . crashed and caught fire.’’

Security forces quickly started the rescue work and transported the dead and injured to a nearby hospital, he added.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared Saturday a national day of mourning.

The bodies of those killed were being transported to Islamabad.