KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 ― Deputy minister Datuk Noriah Kasnon has been identified as the first victim of a helicopter crash in Sarawak, minister Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim said today after authorities found a body near the crash site.
“Now, I’m at IPK Sarawak to receive the body of my sister YB Noriah, who is the first victim of the helicopter accident,” Rohani, who is the women, family and community development minister, wrote on her Facebook page in Malay, referring to the Sarawak contingent police headquarters.
Rohani reportedly considers Noriah as a younger sister although they are not related by blood.
Search and rescue operation commander Azman Julaihi said earlier today that the body of a woman was discovered on the riverbank of Batang Lupar, near where helicopter debris were found.
Noriah, who was the plantation industries and commodities deputy minister and Sungai Besar MP from Umno, had been aboard the helicopter along with Kuala Kangsar MP Datuk Mohammad Khairil Anuar Wan Ahmad from Umno and four others, when it disappeared enroute from Betong to Kuching yesterday afternoon during campaigning for the Sarawak state election.
The four other people on the helicopter were Noriah’s husband Asmuni Abdullah, Plantation Industries and Commodities secretary-general Datuk Dr Sundaran Annamalai, bodyguard Ahmad Sobri Harun; and the pilot Captain Rudolf Rex Ragas.
Noriah, 52, had served as deputy minister in the energy, green technology and water; the women, family and community development portfolios; and the plantation industries and commodities portfolio.
The Sungai Besar Wanita Umno division chief had been MP for Sungai Besar in Selangor since 2004, but narrowly held on to the federal seat in the 13th general elections with a majority of just 399 votes against PAS.
