Body of woman found at copter crash site

KUCHING: The body of a female victim has been found at the crash site of the helicopter which went missing on Thursday evening.

“At 1200 hours, the Fire and Rescue Department located the body of a female victim not far from where debris was found,” Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department director Nor Hisham Mohammad confirmed with The Star Online.

Although the passenger manifest has yet to be confirmed, it is believed that Plantation Industries and Commodities Deputy Minister Datuk Noriah Kasnon and her husband Asmuni Abdullah were on flight RPC 6828 which went missing en route from Betong to Kuching.

The four other individuals on board were the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Dr Sundaran Annamalai, Kuala Kangsar MP and Malaysian Palm Oil Board chairman Datuk Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad and personal bodyguard Ahmad Sobri Harun, as well as the pilot, Captain Rudolf Rex Ragas.

Noriah is also Sungai Besar MP.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the helicopter at 4.32pm on Thursday after taking off from Betong at 4.12pm.

Search and rescue teams have been mobilised and dispatched to the areas narrowed down.

Debris from the crash was found near Batang Lupar at 9.50am Friday.

The debris from the missing AS350 helicopter comprised a rotor blade, a floatation device, part of a helicopter wall, a door and a seat.