The carnival, which was supposed to be held on May 14 at Dataran Merdeka, was cancelled out of respect for the victims of the helicopter tragedy, Umno Secretary-General Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said.

To date, two of the six on board the ill-fated flight have been confirmed dead, namely Plantation Industries and Commodities Deputy Minister Norah Kasnon and the ministry’s secretary-general Sundaran Annamalai.

In a statement today, Tengku Adnan said: “I am speaking for the Umno Headquarters, the Umno leadership and Umno members – we grieve and mourn for the AS350 helicopter incident. Therefore we have agreed to cancel the Umno Day Carnival.”

He added that the cancellation also include the Umno Sports and the Larian Bendera Umno that were already underway.

“Although preparations have been made in full and the planning has been done but we believe this is not the right time to proceed with the events. The grief is not only about the victims’ family members but also for party members throughout the country as well,” he said.

He added however that the Umno’s 70th Anniversary celebration on May 11 will proceed as planned at Putra World Trade Centre, but done with moderation.

“This will involve the ‘bacaan Yassin dan tahlil’ that is not just for previous Umno leaders but also the victims of the AS350 helicopter.

“Umno also expresses its condolences to the family of the victims. We will keep them in prayer and hope that the search for the other victims goes smoothly,” he said.

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

Noriah’s remains were found on the bank of the Batang Lupar river near Sebuyau, about 30km from Lingga, yesterday afternoon. She was buried in her home village of Sungai Besar, Selangor, early this morning.