Malaysia finds first body in helicopter crash

Malaysian rescuers found a female body at the site where an AS350 helicopter carrying several Malaysian officials went missing yesterday.

Malaysian rescuers bring the woman's body to shore. Photo: The Star Online.

"At 12:00pm, the Fire and Rescue Department located a female body not far from where they found the debris," The Star Online quoted Nor Hisham Mohammad, director of the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department, as saying.

Earlier, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said rescuers had found debris near Batang Lupar, one of the widest rivers on Borneo island. They included a piece of propeller, a flotation device, part of the helicopter's fuselage, a door and a seat.

The Eurocopter AS 350 helicopter went missing yesterday while flying from Betong to Kuching, the capital of Sarawak state. It was carrying several officials including Malaysia's Deputy Minister of Plantations and Commodities Noriah Kasnon.

The others are believed to include Kasnon's husband Asmuni Abdullah, Minister of Industrial Crops and Commodities Sundaran Annamalai, Kuala Kangsar MP and Palm Oil Commission Chairman Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahma, a bodyguard of Kasnon and a pilot.

The purpose of the missing helicopter's trip is not yet clear. Much of Malaysia's political attention in recent weeks has been focused on Sarawak, which goes to the polls tomorrow.

According to VNE