Islamabad: Pakistan's air force says a technical fault caused the deadly helicopter crash in the country's north and that a fire that subsequently broke out on the aircraft caused the high number of fatalities.
Four foreigners, the ambassadors from the Philippines and Norway and the wives of the ambassadors from Malaysia and Indonesia were among those killed Friday, along with two pilots and a crew member.
Air force spokesman Syed Muhammad Ali told the state-run news agency that the technical failure forced the crash landing and that the helicopter caught fire when it went down in the village of Naltar.
The diplomats were being flown to Naltar to witness the inauguration of chairlift at a ski resort. Earlier, the Pakistani Taliban claimed shooting down the helicopter with a missile.
