KUALA LUMPUR: A post mortem has confirmed that Sergeant Faridah Abd Rahman, a non-commissioned officer with the Malaysian Battalion (Malbatt), had died of a heart attack.
The Malaysian Armed Forces headquarters said in a statement the post-mortem for the late Faridah, who was stationed at the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) base in Marakah, was completed at the Hammoud Hospital, Saida, Lebanon, on May 19, at about 2.54pm local time.
"The preliminary post-mortem results were obtained on May 20, and it confirmed that she passed away due to cardiopulmonary arrest caused by myocardial ischemia or thrombosis, or a heart attack.
"Malbatt 850-11, with the assistance of the Malaysian Embassy in Beirut, has completed all documentation processes with the Lebanese authorities and Unifil to repatriate her body to Malaysia using a commercial flight today, at 12.05pm local time (5.05pm in Malaysia)," said the statement.
It said the body is scheduled to arrive in Malaysia tomorrow at 9.50pm Malaysian time.
The statement said funeral prayers will be held at the Subang Air Base, where she will be honoured before being transported to her hometown in Pendang, Kedah.
"The body will be flown using a Royal Malaysian Air Force transport aircraft on Saturday at 7am.
"She will be buried at the Masjid Al-Anwar Muslim cemtery in Kampung Tengah, Pokok Sena," it said.
Faridah died after collapsing at the Unifil base in Marakah on May 18.
Faridah had just arrived from leave in Malaysia and had alighted from the bus which brought her back to the Marakah Camp when she collapsed at about 2.25am (7.25am Malaysia).
Faridah was 39.
She began her service with the armed forces by joining the army in 2007 and was assigned to the Armed Forces Religious Corps.
Prior to being selected for Malbatt 850-11, Faridah was the senior supervisor for Islamic affairs for the Royal Malay Regiment's 19th Battalion (Mechanised) in Sungai Petani.
She leaves behind a husband and three daughters and a son aged between four and 10.