Sarawak rescuers recover bodies of five helicopter crash victims

Rescuers from Malaysia’s eastern state of Sarawak on Sunday recovered five bodies from a helicopter crash that killed several government officials on the eve of the state’s 11th elections, which saw the ruling coalition of Najib Razak’s Berisan Nasional (BN) party claim victory.

Two government officials as well as the Malaysian Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Noriah Kasnon and her bodyguard were among the six passengers on board the AS350 Eurocopter when it went missing while travelling from Betong to Kuching on Thursday.

Rescuers first recovered the body of Noriah, now laid to rest in a Muslim cemetery in Sungai Burong town of western Selangor state, and today found that of her bodyguard Sobri Harun, according to the Sarawak police chief, as tweeted by Astro Awani news.

Noriah’s husband, Asmuni Abdullah, was also reportedly on board. Rescuers on Sunday continued the search for the sixth victim in the crash, an incident not uncommon in the archipelago’s skies.

In April 2015, Prime Minister Razak’s senior aide and at least five others died in a crash just south of Kuala Lumpur.

“May the victim’s families persevere,” Razak said today, after a series of tweets over the weekend expressing condolences about the incident, which occurred as the officials were en route to the Borneo island state to participate in the elections.