Envoy hurt in helicopter crash returning to the Netherlands

The Dutch Ambassador to Pakistan, Marcel de Vink, is on his way back to the Netherlands, to recover after being wounded in a helicopter crash on Friday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made this announcement on Monday. De Vink suffered a head injury and burns on his legs in the crash.

The military helicopter crashed in the Gilgit-Baltistan area, in the northern part of Pakistan on Friday, killing 7 people. The fatalities include the ambassadors to Pakistan from Norway and the Philippines, the wives of the Malaysian and Indonesian ambassadors as well as three crew members. The Taliban in Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the downing of the helicopter, but the Pakistani authorities deny this, stating that the crash was caused by a technical fault.

From his hospital bed in Islamabad, De Vink said that he realizes how tremendously lucky he is that he survived, NOS reports. He can't remember much more about the crash. "It all happened incredibly fast."