Sarawak Fire and Rescue director Nor Hisham Mohammad confirmed that the body was found at 8.31 am.

“The body would be brought to a place yet to be decided,” he told Bernama here.

The remains of the first victim, Noriah Kasnon, deputy minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, was located on the bank of Sungai Batang Lupar near Sebuyau, about 30km from Lingga, yesterday afternoon.

Other passengers in the ill-fated helicopter were the ministry’s secretary-general Sundaran Annamalai; Noriah’s husband Asmuni Abdullah; Kuala Kangsar MP Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad, who is Malaysian Palm Oil Board chairman; Noriah’s bodyguard Ahmad Sobri; and the pilot Rudolf Rex Ragas, a Filipino.

The Eurocopter AS350 left Betong for Kuching at 4.12pm on Thursday when it reportedly disappeared from radar a few minutes later.

Parts of the helicopter were recovered yesterday near Sungai Batang Lupar, Sebuyau.

– BERNAMA