Boarding time… except this, the last photograph of the doomed AS350/RPC6828 helicopter chartered to carry six people from Betong to Kuching on Thursday, with Plantation Industries and Commodities Deputy Minister Datuk Noriah Kasnon, her husband Asmuni Abdullah, three others and pilot Capt Rudolf Rex Ragas on board. The flight leaving at 4.12pm never reached Kuching. — Photo by Mangi Jabu.
Bomba personnel carry the body to the ferry point in Sebuyau.
Rescuers show a part of the helicopter debris.
KUCHING: The body found along the bank of Batang Lupar yesterday – not far from where the debris of the Eurocopter AS350 that went off-radar on Thursday – is confirmed to be that of Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Noriah Kasnon.
Her private secretary Abidin Supardi disclosed this to reporters when met at Sarawak General Hospital here last night.
Prior to that, state Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) director Nor Hisham Mohammad declared that the body found around noon yesterday at a site, about 2km from where the debris of the ill-fated helicopter were found, was that of a woman. It was brought to Sebuyau-Triso ferry point around 1pm from the recovery site.
“I will leave it to police with regard to the victim’s identity. All I can confirm is that the body recovered was that of a female,” he said when met at the search-and-rescue (SAR) control centre near the ferry point in Sebuyau.
It is known that Noriah was the only woman on board the helicopter, which departed from SMK Spaoh at 4.12pm on Thursday and was at the halfway point of the scheduled journey to Kuching when it vanished from the radar at 4.32pm.
The body was first brought to SMK Sebuyau from the ferry point, before it was transported here.
Nor Hisham added that there were wounds on the body but otherwise, it was intact and clothed.
“Only one body has been recovered for now, and we will continue with the SAR throughout the night and run on a 24-hour basis,” he said, adding that the debris would be sent to the Department of Civil Aviation in Kuching for analysis.
Additionally, the SAR control centre has shifted to Lingga in Sri Aman as of 8pm yesterday.
Asked on the possibility that other passengers might have survived the incident, Nor Hisham said he could only hope and pray for the best.
Some 80 personnel from Bomba, Civil Defence Department, police, Marine Police, police air unit, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, army and navy are involved in the SAR operation, with local fishermen being roped in to report any sighting of helicopter debris or victims.
Noriah was with her husband Asmuni Abdullah, Kuala Kangsar MP and Malaysian Palm Oil Board chairman Datuk Wan Mohammad Khairil Anuar Wan Ahmad, Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Sundaran Annamalai, bodyguard Ahmad Sobri Harun and pilot Capt Rudolf Rex Ragas on board the Eurocopter AS350.
The Thursday’s crash was the second to occur in the Sebuyau-Triso area here, following another incident involving a Eurocopter EC120 in June 2012 which killed three passengers – then-PKR vice-chairman Peter Ato Mayau, Henry Loh and Siti Khuzaimah Anwar.
The pilot Rico Steger, however, survived after swimming over a distance of 20km from the crash site to Kampung Tebelu near Sebuyau Bazaar.
The wreckage of the EC120 aircraft has never been recovered.