KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak expressed his sorrow over the loss of Datuk Noriah Kasnon, who perished in a helicopter crash in Sebuyau, Sarawak, yesterday.
“I am sad to receive confirmation that she is gone. Al-Fatihah,” he wrote via his Twitter account.
The prime minister said efforts to locate and rescue the others who are still missing are ongoing.
“Any developments will be announced in due time,” he said.
Najib earlier performed the ‘solat jenazah’ for Noriah at the surau of the Kuching RMAF base. He is accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Noriah’s remains are scheduled to depart tonight for the Subang airbase before being brought home to Selangor.
Noriah's body was brought by helicopter from the crash site to the Sarawak police headquarters here this afternoon before being transferred to the Sarawak General Hospital.
The fate of the pilot and four others who were on board is still unknown.
The others include Noriah’s husband Asmuni Abdullah, Kuala Kangsar Member of Parliament Datuk Wan Mohammad Khairil Anuar Wan Ahmad, Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry secretary-general Datuk Dr Sundaran Annamalai, Noriah’s bodyguard
Ahmad Sobri Harun, and the pilot Rudolf Rex Ragas.