SEPANG: AirAsia X has safely flown home 10 Malaysian tourists who were victims of a blaze that gutted a rental vacation home in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The victims were flown in on flight D7 207 from Auckland, New Zealand and arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) here at 4:55 a.m. today.
They were welcomed home by a team led by AirAsia X Berhad Chief Executive Officer Benyamin Ismail, at the airport arrival hall.
“We are saddened by the unfortunate tragedy, and we are truly relieved that they escaped the fire unharmed and are now safely back in Malaysia,” he said.
“We sympathise with the victims over the ordeal and we wanted to do our part to help by providing them a free flight home and doing whatever we could to help them cope with the traumatic experience.
“We would like to thank the Malaysian High Commission in Wellington and the Tourism Malaysia Office in Auckland for their assistance in expediting the travel document process for the victims", he said.
According to news reports, the fire that broke out on 10 September 2017 destroyed a wooden three-storey house on Clinton Terrace in Sumner that the victims had rented.
All 10 of them escaped the fire, including six who were treated for minor to moderate injuries at Christchurch Hospital. They had lost most of their belongings, including six of their passports, which left them stranded in New Zealand.