Pakistan identifies army general among six killed in helicopter crash

Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali was aboard aircraft due to deliver aid to flood-stricken region

People are helped from Lasbella in Pakistan's south-west Balochistan province, where a search and rescue team found the wreckage of a helicopter. AP

Pakistani search teams have found the wreckage of a helicopter that crashed in the country’s flood-stricken south-west, the military said on Tuesday.

An army general and five others on board were killed, it said.

The previous evening, the aircraft had lost contact with the air-traffic control tower in Balochistan province, while flying on a relief mission in a flood-hit area.

Military officials, who said the crash was caused by bad weather, identified the officer killed as regional commander Lt Gen Sarfraz Ali.

The helicopter had been due to deliver aid to Balochistan, where rains and flash floods have killed nearly 150 people — and 500 nationwide — since June.

Pakistan’s President Arif Ali, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and other senior politicians offered their condolences to the victims’ families.

Helicopters and boats are being used to evacuate flooded parts of the country, including Balochistan and Rajanpur, a district in the eastern Punjab province.

Torrential rain started lashing various parts of the country in June, triggering flooding and landslides. Since then, rescue workers backed by the military have evacuated thousands of marooned people, including women and children, from across the country.

More heavy rain is expected this week in Pakistan, where the monsoon season usually runs from July until September.