Last helicopter crash victim’s body found
by Sandy Mark Luna, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on July 23, 2012, Monday
SEBUYAU: The remains of Henry Loh, one of the victims of the Eurocopter EC120 crash on Friday, were found floating in the sea near Pulau Teriso at about 7.40am yesterday.
The body, which was fully clothed and without a life jacket, was spotted by a boat operator in Teriso Laut, not far from Sebuyau town.
Shortly after Simunjan Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) was alerted of the find, its chief Sekan Gundah rushed a team to the specified location.
“We recovered the body near Pulau Teriso, about 30 minutes by boat from the town,” he told reporters when met here.
State police commissioner Datuk Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said Loh’s family members had confirmed the identity of the 42-year-old architect.
“The search and rescue operation has thus stopped following the recovery of Loh’s body,” said Acryl.
Loh’s remains have been sent to the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) in Kuching for a post-mortem. The autopsy was scheduled to be conducted at about 10pm last night.
Loh, from Kuching, left behind his wife and two children. His wife and relatives had waited for the latest update in the town. She refused to be interviewed.
Kapitan Liew Ching Sen, the brother-in-law of Loh, said Loh and his brother owned an architect firm.
“We would like to express our appreciation to all the parties who were involved in the search and rescue operation, and to help us to recover Henry’s body,” he said.
Loh, together with Siti Khuzaimah Anwar, 27, and Peter Ato Mayau, 53 went missing after the helicopter they were travelling in crashed into Sungai Teriso estuary near Sebuyau at about 9.30am.
Siti Khuzaimah’s body was found by fishermen near Maludam along Sungai Teriso around 11.15am the next day while that of Peter’s was found that afternoon at about 2.30pm by villagers and rescuers not far from Kampung Tebelu, Sebuyau.
The only survivor of the crash was the German pilot, Rico Steger, 35. He managed to extricate himself from the wreckage and swam for several hours in strong currents before reaching Kampung Tebelu.
They were on the way from Kuching to Nanga Merit in Kapit Division for a school project site inspection.
The late Henry and Siti Khuzaimah were consultants engaged by Sebiro Holdings while the late Ato is the company’s civil engineer.
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