Five people were killed as a security force helicopter crashed into Indus River in central Pakistan Wednesday morning, reported local Urdu TV channel Express.

According to the report, the people killed in the chopper crash included a top official of the Punjab Rangers Director General Muhammad Nawaz, his son, two pilots and one ranger.

Earlier reports said that three people on board were feared dead while two pilots survived by swimming to the shore of the river.

The accident took place at about 10:30 a.m. local time shortly after it took off from Deraghazi Khan, a city nearby the Indus River in central Pakistan.

The helicopter fell into the river near the city of Layyah while on its way to Peshawar, the largest city in northwest Pakistan.

Eyewitnesses said that the helicopter caught fire before it plunged into the river.

Local media quoted official sources as saying that the helicopter crashed mainly due to the poor weather in the area.