GILGIT, April 25: At least 13 people were killed when an army aviation’s MI-17 helicopter crashed on Thursday evening between Minimarg and Burzal villages of Astore valley, 190km from here, an ISPR spokesman said.

The helicopter was on a routine flight. The cause of the crash could not be ascertained.

Minimarg and Burzul are situated near the Line of Control (LoC) and in grip of rains for the last two days.

According to the ISPR, the dead were identified as Maj Imtiaz (pilot), Maj Syed Nadeem Ali (co-pilot), Maj Kamran Saleem, Capt Bilal Hussain, Lieutenant Zulqarnain, Lieutenant Talha Zareen Khattak, Lieutenant Fayyaz Shaheen, Subedar-Maj Ahmed Din, Haveldar Mohammad Nawaz, Naik Muhammad Nawaz, Lance Naik Abdul Waheed, Signalman Mohammad Arshad and Sepoy Zar Mohammad.

An inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the crash, the ISPR spokesman said.