A Pakistan Army aviation helicopter, which was on flood relief operations in Balochistan’s Lasbela, went missing on Monday after it lost contact with air traffic control (ATC), the Pakistan military’s media arm said in a statement on Monday.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said as many as six individuals, including Commander 12 Corps Lieutenant General Sarfraz Ali who was supervising relief operations in the flood-hit province, were on board, The Express Tribune reported.
“Search operation is underway,” it added. It is reported that the helicopter might have crashed and the chances of survival of all on board were slim. However; there was no official confirmation of the crash from the military’s media wing till the filing of this report.
Army troops, police and other rescue teams were busy, searching the helicopter but hilly area and damaged roads due to floods hampering the operation, the report said.
According to details, the helicopter took off from Uthal at around 5:10pm and was supposed to land in Karachi at 6:05pm, but the chopper lost contact with the air traffic controller. The search operation had been going for the last six hours. Rescue mission was hampered by the damage caused to the road infrastructure due to the ongoing flooding.
General Sarfraz, the commander, the southern command, was one of the contenders interviewed by former prime minister Imran Khan for the post of director of General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in October last year. He served as Pakistan’s defence attaché in the United States.
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