Pakistani quake aid helicopter crashes, two hurt

ISLAMABAD, Mar 9 (Reuters) A Red Cross helicopter crashed in Pakistan today, injuring two crew members working on a relief mission following October's eathquake, a spokesman said.

The cause of the crash, not far from the airport in the town of Muzaffarabad, the hub for quake relief efforts in Pakistani Kashmir, was not known.

''The ICRC confirms that one of its helicopters, a Puma, crashed,'' said International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spokesman Rashad Akhundov.

The two crew members were the only people on board. They had been evacuated to hospital in the capital, Islamabad, he said.

Akhundov said he did not know the the nationality of the two crew members or the extent of their injuries.

The aircraft had been the chartered from the South African company, Starlite, soon after the October 8 earthquake killed more than 74,000 people, he said.

The ICRC has been heavily involved in relief efforts in the mountains of northern Pakistan.

A Turkmen helicopter that had been chartered by the ICRC for quake relief work went missing somewhere over the Pakistani-Afghan border as it was travelling home in January.

No trace of that aircraft, a Russian-made Mi-8, or its seven Turkmen crew has been found.

REUTERS SHR BS1513