07 May 2016•Update: 11 May 2016
By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
Three more bodies were retrieved Saturday from the site of a helicopter crash in eastern Malaysia that involved two federal lawmakers, and a deputy minister.
Two bodies were found near the crash area in thick forest in Sri Aman, in Sarawak State, and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that a third body had also been found in the small coastal fishing town of Lingga.
“Third body have been found in Lingga. [I am] in the process of flying it to IPK Kuching [police headquarters]. I'm in the Hospital Kuching mortuary,” he tweeted.
The body of Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Deputy Minister Noriah Kasnon was found late Friday, and brought to her hometown near the capital of Kuala Lumpur for burial.
Others on board the chopper were Kasnon's husband, Asmuni Abdullah, Kuala Kangsar Member of Parliament Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad, the ministry’s secretary-general, Sundaran Annamalai, Kasnon's bodyguard Ahmad Sobri Harun and pilot Rudolf Rex Ragas from the Philippines.
In a press conference Saturday, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said a preliminary report on the crash will be released within a month, and a probe is ongoing.
About 274 personnel from various governmental agencies -- including 31 police and navy divers -- have been roped in to search for the remaining bodies and wreckage, he added.
