ISLAMABAD, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- At least five people, including two pilots, were killed as a helicopter crashed in Pakistan's northern Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region on Monday, local officials said.

The aircraft, which was conducting a test landing on a newly proposed helipad, went down due to a technical failure in Diamer district's Chilas town, Faizullah Faraq, a spokesperson of the GB government, told Xinhua.

The helicopter belonged to the Pakistan Army and was being used by the GB government for relief operations in flood-hit areas, he added.

Diamer's senior police official confirmed the fatalities and said rescue and police teams had reached the site for aftermath efforts.■