From The New York Times
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — An international tour of a scenic corner of northern Pakistan ended in tragedy Friday, when a Pakistani military helicopter carrying foreign diplomats went down in a fiery crash that killed seven people aboard, including the ambassadors from Norway and thePhilippines.
The helicopter, which officials said was carrying 19 people, crashed into a school while making a landing in Naltar, a valley in the Gilgit district of northern Pakistan.
In a briefing Friday night, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, said that initial investigation suggested that the engine of the helicopter failed while it was approaching the landing site. He dismissed a claim by the Pakistani Taliban earlier in the day that they had shot the helicopter down with a shoulder-fired missile, saying: “There was no terrorist activity.”
The dead included Ambassador Leif H. Larsen of Norway and Ambassador Domingo D. Lucenario Jr. of the Philippines, the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors, and the helicopter’s two pilots and a crew member, the Pakistani military said.
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