COAS Bajwa attends funeral prayers of martyred military personnel

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa attended funeral prayers of two military pilots and three crew members who embraced martyrdom early morning today in a plane crash near Mora Kalu, ISPR reported.

The funeral prayers of martyred army pilots and other crew members were held at the Chaklala Garrison.

According to ISPR, the funeral prayer was attended by COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa, other serving and retired military officials and relatives of the martyrs.

At least 18 people were killed and 12 others were wounded when an Army Aviation plane crashed near Rawalpindi, said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Tuesday.

Read More: At least 18 killed as small plane crashes in Rawalpindi

According to the ISPR, the plane was on its routine flight when it crashed near Rabi Plaza in the limits of Rawat police station. Two pilots and three crew members of the plane were among the martyred.

The army personnel who died in the plane crash included Lt Col Saqib and Wasim, Naib Subedar Afzal, Hawaldar Ibne Amin and Rahmat.

Fire brigade and rescue teams reached the spot after the crash and launched a rescue operation. The injured were shifted to Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi.

The deadliest air disaster on Pakistani soil was in 2010 when an Airbus 321 operated by private airline flying from Karachi crashed into the hills outside Islamabad while coming into land, killing all 152 onboard.