One body found; search continues

Kuching: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor paid their last respects to Plantation Industries and Commodities Deputy Minister Datuk Noriah Kasnon at the Sarawak General Hospital, here, Friday.Noriah was killed in a helicopter crash in Sebuyau on Thursday. The fate of the pilot and four others who were on board is still unkown.

Najib and Rosmah also extended their condolences to her family members.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim also paid their last respects at the hospital.

Noriah's body was brought by helicopter from the crash site to the Sarawak police headquarters in the afternoon before being transferred to the hospital.

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Besides Noriah, also onboard the ill-fated helicopter were her husband Asmuni Abdullah and Kuala Kangsar MP Datuk Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad, who is also the Chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.

Also on board were Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Dr Sundaran Annamalai, Noriah's bodyguard Ahmad Sobri Harun and Filipino pilot Rudolf Rex Ragas.

The Eurocopter AS350 helicopter was on a flight from Betong to Kuching when it vanished from radar screens at 4.12pm yesterday.

Pieces of the helicopter were found near the Batang Lupar river in Sebuyau around 9am. At noon rescuers retrieved the body of Noriah where the debris were found. Noriah was in Betong on ministerial duties.

The helicopter left Betong, about 250km from here, at 4.12pm on Thursday and lost contact with the contact tower three minutes later.

According to the Department of Civil Aviation Director-General Datuk Seri Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the Simunjan air traffic controller tried to establish contacts several times from 4.28pm onwards but there was no response.

Nor Hisham said divers had been dispatched to the location to try and locate the main body of the helicopter as well as other victims.

Parts of the missing helicopter found thus far included a rotation device, a seat, part of a door, part of a rotor and part of the body of the helicopter.

Najib said he was informed the area where the debris was found was very vast, which made the SAR mission difficult.

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"Nevertheless, all efforts will be made and assets deployed in the (SAR) mission," he said.

Describing the incident as an unexpected crash tragedy, he thanked the parties involved for mounting the SAR mission in the shortest possible time.

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