ISLAMABAD — The ambassadors to Pakistan from the Philippines and Norway and the wives of the ambassadors from Malaysia and Indonesia were killed Friday when a Pakistani army helicopter carrying foreign dignitaries made a crash landing in the country's north. The army's spokesman, Maj. Gen. Asim Bajwa, tweeted that the MI-17 helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing. The helicopter's two pilots and a crew member were also killed, he said, adding that the surviving passengers, including the Dutch and Polish ambassadors, received “varying degree of injuries.” The helicopter was en route to the northern village of Naltar where Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was to attend a public ceremony to inaugurate the newly installed chair-lift at a ski resort. Sharif was in his own plane en route to Naltar when the news was conveyed to him, according to a statement from the prime minister's office. It said Sharif returned to Islamabad in the wake of the crash. The Foreign Ministry said the heads of diplomatic missions from more than 30 countries, along with their family members and some Pakistani dignitaries, had been flown to the city of Gilgit by a C-130 aircraft. The Pakistani Taliban issued a statement claiming they had shot down the helicopter with an anti-aircraft missile. — AP
