The remains of five other victims have been found and all identified.

Yesterday, defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein confirmed the deaths of Asmuni Abdullah, husband of deputy plantation industries minister Noriah Kasnon, and Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad, MP for Kuala Kangsar and chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board.

“The remains of Datuk Wan will be flown in a special aircraft to Ipoh,” he told reporters at Sarawak General Hospital last night. Asmuni’s remains and those of Noriah’s bodyguard, Ahmad Sobri Harun, would be flown to Subang air base and Terengganu.

The prime minister, Najib Razak, his wife, Rosmah Mansor and deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi were also at the hospital to pay their last respects.

The helicopter, bound for Kuching, crashed shortly after take-off from Betong. The debris and bodies of the victims were found near the Batang Lupar river.

-BERNAMA