Copter tragedy: Avoid speculation, respect sensitivity of victim's families, says DPM Fadillah

LUMUT: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof (pic) expressed hope that there would be no speculation surrounding the mid-air collision and crash involving two helicopters at the Royal Malaysian Navy base here.

Fadillah, who is also Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister, urged all parties to show respect to the families of the victims by refraining from sharing any sensitive videos or images to safeguard the sensitivities of those affected by the Tuesday (April 23) morning incident.

"Regardless of the cause, let's avoid speculation. That's my sincere hope. I urge both the media and the public not to engage in speculation. Let's allow the police and military to conduct their investigations, and we'll await their full report.

"They were involved in a training exercise... When accidents occur, let's acknowledge them as such, and let's await the findings of the authorities' investigations,” he told newsmen after visiting the families of the victims and the site of the incident on Tuesday.

Earlier, the navy confirmed the loss of 10 of its personnel members in the incident, which happened at 9.32am, involving seven crew members of the Maritime Operations Helicopter (HOM-AW139) and three crew members of the Navy Fennec.

It is understood that the incident took place during fly-past training in conjunction with the navy's 90th anniversary scheduled early next month.

Meanwhile, Fadillah said his presence at the TLDM Lumut base today, following Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's directive, was to meet with Navy officials and personnel, especially the top leadership, to ascertain what exactly happened during the training.

On behalf of the Prime Minister and the Madani government, Fadillah extended condolences to the Royal Malaysian Navy and the families of the victims.

"I also had the chance to meet the victims’ families, and observed the Navy's arrangements to transfer the victims to the Ipoh Hospital (Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital) for the post-mortem,” he said.

Regarding the welfare of the families, Fadillah said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin would provide further information later, in addition to government assistance.

"Furthermore, the Prime Minister mentioned that there will be details for me to report, so let the Prime Minister announce any assistance and support from the government to the families of the victims.

"All of the families are present here at the Lumut base except for those from Sabah, who are expected to arrive later at about 6.30pm today. They will then be escorted to Ipoh,” he said.- Bernama