Agencies/Islamabad

Three ambassadors to Pakistan who survived a helicopter crash that killed seven people have described the terrifying moment the aircraft span out of control before slamming into the ground and catching fire.
Testimonies of diplomats on board from Malaysia, Argentina and the Netherlands released by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) yesterday also unequivocally bolstered government and eyewitness statements that the disaster was an accident rather than an act of terrorism.
Malaysia’s envoy — who was himself injured in the crash — described how the journey had gone to plan until they were due to land at their destination in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region.
“After arriving at Gilgit airport everything went well except for the last few minutes, when the helicopter went into a spiral, round and round and round, and there it hit the ground,” Hasrul Sani Mujtabar said.
“I saw the pilot was killed, some others died instantly and I was in middle. Then a few managed to escape but the fire was very strong,” with smoke quickly filling the helicopter, he said.
The helicopter was one of three carrying a delegation of ambassadors to inspect projects on a three-day trip to the region, where they were set to meet with prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
The Pakistani Taliban had claimed to have struck the aircraft with a ground-to-air missile hoping to assassinate  Sharif.
“(Regarding) remarks and rumours that there was a terrorist attack or that there was sabotage, I can say 99.9% that they were not true, that this was a sad accident, a really unfortunate accident, by a technical fault on the plane,” Argentinian ambassador Rodolfo Martin Saravia told the air force.
Leif H Larsen, the Norwegian envoy, and Domingo D Lucenario Jr of the Philippines were killed along with the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors, the helicopter’s two pilots and another crew member.
Dutch ambassador Marcel de Vink said he felt “extremely lucky” to be alive after what he had witnessed. He was described as having sustained burns to the leg and face by the foreign ministry.
“I remember that we got into a spin and so thinking I suppose I braced a little bit for impact... afterwards I was actually opening my eyes seeing the smoke and explosions, so I was extremely lucky because it went incredibly fast,” he said.
Pakistan foreign secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry told a press conference on Friday there were 19 people on board the helicopter, of whom 12 were rescued, adding that its black box had been retrieved.
The Indonesian ambassador suffered 75% burns and is in a critical condition, Chaudry said Friday.
Arrangements are underway to repatriate the bodies of those killed, and would be accompanied by government officials, the prime minister’s office said in a statement yesterday.
“The ministers would take the dead bodies on special flights as a gesture of respect and to show the importance Pakistan attatches (to) its relations to these countries,” the statement said.
Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, PAF’s Chief of Air Staff, yesterday corroborated military and foreign ministry statements that the helicopter had lost control moments before landing due to a technical fault, in comments aired by Pakistan’s state television.
“The MI-17 helicopter was on a routine flight, and the pilots had excellent professional skills. The base commander was himself observing (the) landing of the helicopter,” he said.
It was Pakistan’s worst air crash since 2012, when a Boeing 737 passenger plane went down in Islamabad, killing 130 people.
In 1988, a plane crash killed Pakistan’s then military-ruler General Zia-ul-Haq as well as the US ambassador at the time, Arnold Raphel.
Known for its spectacular mountain ranges, Gilgit-Baltistan is a strategically important autonomous region that borders China, Afghanistan and Indian-held Kashmir.
Pakistan’s military brought the bodies of two ambassadors and two ambassadors’ wives to Islamabad yesterday, a day after they were killed in a helicopter crash in northern mountains as they where inspecting a tourism project.
The Mi-17 helicopter came down on a school in a valley lined by pine forests and overlooked by snow-peaked mountains. No children were in the school at the time.
The government says the aircraft suffered engine failure, dismissing as bogus a Pakistani Taliban claim that the militants shot it down.
Prime minister Nawaz Sharif was also going to the inauguration of a ski lift and was on a separate helicopter when the accident happened.
Pakistani servicemen formed a guard of honour to receive the coffins, draped in national flags and bedecked with wreaths, as soldiers carried them from the aircraft that brought them from the north. The ceremony was broadcast live on television.
Diplomats in black and the military’s top brass, including army chief general Raheel Sharif, were on hand and the commanders saluted as the coffins were carried by. Sharif put his arm around a sobbing boy among the diplomats.
“It’s a very sad moment and we are all very shaken,” Spanish ambassador Javier Carbajosa Sanchez told reporters. He was on the trip but on another helicopter.
“Unfortunately, these things happen. Everything seems to indicate it was a terrible accident.”
Pakistan declared a day of mourning and Sharif has ordered cabinet ministers to accompany the bodies of the four foreign victims to their countries.
Gilgit, about 250km north of Islamabad, is not a militant stronghold and the Taliban often claim responsibility for incidents that they had nothing to do with.
Witnesses on the ground, and in other helicopters on the trip, reported nothing to indicate any firing.
The Mi-17 is considered a reliable, no-frills helicopter, first built by the Russians for use in hot and high conditions in Asia.
The Pakistani military is generally seen as maintaining its equipment well though media have reported four other Mi-17 crashes in Pakistan in the last 11 years.
A military team is investigating the crash.