As many as 41 security personnel have been killed after their military helicopter fell down in Feroz Khel area, bordering the Orakzai and Khyber agencies, yesterday (July 03, 2009). News sources referred to officials attributing the copter crash to some technical fault. However, there are speculations that the copter has been gunned down by Islamic militants in the area, though no militant group has claimed the responsibility of the crash.

There has been a variation in the number of deaths, taking place in the crash; some sources reckoning 41 while others 26 people. What is known for sure is that all on board the copter have been killed and their bodies are being recovered by paramilitary forces. Witnesses from the area, where the copter crashed, told news sources that the copter was flying low. Bad weather or overloading, or both together, may have caused the collapse of the helicopter, as the official sources think about the cause of the crash.

Also learnt about the copter’s crash is the fact that the pilot had made a request for emergency landing a while before the crash. After the crash, military helicopters were sent to the area to carry crew for recovering the bodies and getting the wreckage for investigation.