QUETTA: Two army aviation pilots were seriously injured when their aircraft crashed in Ziarat on Saturday morning, security officials said.

The Mushshak aircraft was on training mission after taking off from the army’s Khalid airbase in Quetta when it went down in the jurisdiction of Ziarat.

“The aircraft was on routine training mission with two pilots on board,” official sources said, adding that both pilots were taken to the CMH Quetta with serious injuries.

They were identified as Captain Omer and Captain Hasnain Mehmood.

The aircraft was flying over Ziarat valley when some technical fault developed in it and it crashed near Manna dam, sources said. A probe has been ordered into the matter.

“Yes, a small aircraft of army crashed in Manna area of Ziarat valley,” Ziarat Deputy Commissioner Yasir told Dawn, adding that security personnel took the injured pilots to the district hospital Ziarat. Later, the two were shifted to the CMH, Quetta, by a military helicopter.

Published in Dawn, September 21th, 2014