Malaysian AS350 crash claims six lives

A Eurocopter AS350 has crashed in Malaysia, claiming the lives of all six people on board. The helicopter crashed whilst on a flight to Kuching on 4 May.

According to a report by AFP, the aircraft was carrying several government officials at the time, including deputy Malaysian prime minister Noriah Kasnon. Her husband Asmuni Abdullah was also understood to be on the flight from the Borneo Island sate of Sarawak’s to its capital Kuching when it went missing.

Reports in the Malaysian media later confirmed this and said that bodies had been found in Sarawak, close to where the helicopter went missing.

Nor Hisham Mohammad, a local fire and rescue official, told AFP a body was found near the banks of a river.

Community development minister Rohani Abdul Karim confirmed in a Facebook post that the woman’s body was Kasnon’s.

“Now, I’m at the Sarawak police headquarters to receive the body of … Noriah, who is the first victim of the helicopter crash,” she wrote.