The announcement specifies that among the passengers is the “commander of the 12th army corps who oversaw the rescue operations” after the floods in Baluchistan. The circumstances under which the aircraft was lost were not clarified.
A Pakistani armed forces helicopter carrying six people, including at least one senior officer, has been missing since Monday when it took off to participate in search and rescue operations after deadly floods hit the country’s southwest, the military said.
“A Pakistan Army helicopter engaged in rescue operations” for flood victims “in Las Bela, Balochistan (province) lost contact” with air traffic control, the general staff said in a press release.
The announcement specifies that among the passengers is the “commander of the 12th army corps who oversaw the rescue operations” after the floods in Baluchistan. The circumstances under which the aircraft was lost were not clarified.
The officer, Lt. Gen. Sarfraz Ali, is the most senior in the region and among the most important in the hierarchy of the Pakistani armed forces.
“Police, army and local rescue services are looking” for the helicopter, a police officer in the area told AFP.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shabaz Sharif, who visited the province on Monday to oversee rescue operations, described the plane’s disappearance as “very disturbing”, noting on Twitter that he and “the whole nation” are praying to “bring back these children of of the country who went to help the victims of the floods”.
The military remains Pakistan’s most powerful institution, and civil authorities rely heavily on its resources when natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes strike the country.
Monsoon floods have killed at least 478 people since mid-June in Pakistan, including at least 136 in Balochistan.
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