Those were the words of Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim when talking about Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Noriah Kasnon who was killed in a helicopter crash in Sarawak yesterday.

Describing Noriah as her sister, Rohani said when she first heard the news of the crash last night, she had still high hopes that Noriah might actually be safe and just waiting to be rescued.

“I kept thinking about her and her children. I was thinking, how can this happen to her? It’s so close to Mother’s Day.

“I lost a comrade, a sister, a political friend. We were so close that people in Parliament even called us twins,” she told reporters when met at the Sarawak Air Force base here today.

Earlier, Noriah’s body was flown to Subang airport from Kuching aboard a Hercules C130 military aircraft, which took off at 9.28pm.

Besides Noriah, others in the helicopter were her husband Asmuni Abdullah; Kuala Kangsar MP Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad, who is also chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board; Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry secretary-general Dr Sundaran Annamalai; Noriah’s bodyguard Ahmad Sobri Harun; and Filipino pilot Rudolf Rex Ragas.

The Eurocopter AS350 helicopter was on a flight from Betong to Kuching when it went down.

Parts of the helicopter were found near Batang Lupar in Sebuyau at about 9am today. At noon, search and rescue forces retrieved the body of Noriah near where the debris was found.

When asked on the possibility of sabotage, Rohani dismissed the claim saying, “I think we have enough surprises since yesterday and today, so let’s not create any theories.”

Rohani also said that Noriah had a fear of water and flying in a helicopter, which made her wonder why Noriah took the helicopter in the first place.

“Maybe because the others invited her to join them in the helicopter or maybe because she wanted to get to Kuching as soon as possible. Maybe that’s why she took the helicopter.”