No survivors have been reported and five bodies have been found so far, with three having been identified.

The body of Noriah Kasnon, a deputy minister and MP for Sungai Besar in Selangor, was found yesterday and flown home to Selangor. She was buried near her home early this morning.

The other MP on board the aircraft was Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad of Kuala Kangsar. His fate has not yet been determined.

If he is confirmed not to have survived the crash, the Election Commission will be required to call by-elections for both seats.

Under the Federal Constitution by-elections must be held to fill a casual vacancy within the first three years of the term of the current Parliament. A vacancy must be declared by the Speaker to the Election Commission.

The three-year period ends on June 24 this year, according to constitutional expert Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi, quoted by Star Online.

Noriah Kasnon was elected to the Sungai Besar seat in the 2013 general election, with a majority of 399 votes over Mohamed Salleh M Husin of PAS. Wan Mohammad Khair-il won in Kuala Kangsar with a majority of 1,082 votes against independent candidate Kamilia Ibrahim.

Noriah, who is deputy minister of plantation industries and commodities, and Wan Mohammad Khair-il, who was also chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, were travelling from Betong to Kuching on board a Hornbill Skyways AS350 helicopter.

Also on board were her husband, Asmuni Abdullah; the ministry’s secretary-general Dr Sundaran Annamalai; her personal bodyguard Ahmad Sobri Harun; and the pilot, Captain Rudolf Rex Ragas.

Two more bodies recovered earlier today were confirmed to be that of Sundaran and Sobri.