Musharraf escort helicopter crashes

A helicopter escorting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has crashed killing four soldiers, the army says.

It said that General Musharraf was travelling in another helicopter on the visit to Pakistani-administered Kashmir and was unhurt. But the president’s spokesman, Rashid Qureshi, was among eight people hurt.The delegation was going to the area to commemorate the second anniversary of an earthquake in the region which killed around 73 000 people.”It was a technical fault, that’s why it went down,” army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.He denied that a militant attack was responsible.”It took off after President Musharraf left,” Arshad said.”The president is safe and sound.He has reached his destination.”President Musharraf, who won in presidential elections on Saturday, has survived at least three assassination attempts.The most recent was in July, when unknown assailants tried to shoot down his plane after it took off from the military airfield at Rawalpindi.But it was well out of range.A villager at the site of the crash told the Reuters news agency that he saw the helicopter trailing smoke as it flew low over a valley 18km south of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir.”I was sitting in the courtyard of my house when I saw the helicopter flying overhead.Its noise was disturbed and smoke was coming from it,” Khateeb Gardezi told the Reuters news agency.”It was a great effort by the pilot because it was flying low over the houses.The pilot took it to a field.BBCBut the president’s spokesman, Rashid Qureshi, was among eight people hurt.The delegation was going to the area to commemorate the second anniversary of an earthquake in the region which killed around 73 000 people.”It was a technical fault, that’s why it went down,” army spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.He denied that a militant attack was responsible.”It took off after President Musharraf left,” Arshad said.”The president is safe and sound.He has reached his destination.”President Musharraf, who won in presidential elections on Saturday, has survived at least three assassination attempts.The most recent was in July, when unknown assailants tried to shoot down his plane after it took off from the military airfield at Rawalpindi.But it was well out of range.A villager at the site of the crash told the Reuters news agency that he saw the helicopter trailing smoke as it flew low over a valley 18km south of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir.”I was sitting in the courtyard of my house when I saw the helicopter flying overhead.Its noise was disturbed and smoke was coming from it,” Khateeb Gardezi told the Reuters news agency.”It was a great effort by the pilot because it was flying low over the houses.The pilot took it to a field.BBC