QUETTA: Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti and officials of the Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMA) remained unhurt in a crash landing of an army helicopter at Khalid airbase after it developed a technical fault on Friday.

Mr Bugti, who is also minister in charge of the PDMA, was going to the Kalat district along with officials of the authority to drop relief goods and food items to the people stranded in snowbound areas.

When the helicopter reached the Jalalzai area of Khaliqabad, near Kalat district, the minister started dropping relief goods for the affected people. All of a sudden, the helicopter developed a technical fault.

The pilots immediately abandoned further journey and decided to return to Quetta and made a crash landing at the Khalid base.

“All the seven persons on board, including Sarfaraz Bugti, his Chief Security Officer Syed Amin, PDMA Relief Assistant Director Faisal Khan, Danish Langove and three members of the crew, remained unhurt in the crash landing,” officials told Dawn.

They said the fault developed in the hydraulic system of the helicopter gunship.

Two other helicopters carrying relief goods continued their journey towards the affected areas and dropped goods for the people struck in the snowfall-hit areas of Kalat and Mastung districts.

Published in Dawn January 21st, 2017