Elmina plane crash site search 95% complete

The search operation at the location of the plane crash on the Guthrie Highway near Elmina town in Shah Alam yesterday is 95% completed, Inspector General of Police Razarudin Husain said.

He said that security personnel are currently doing the last touch-up to detect the remaining pieces of the victims' bodies at the scene.

"We have found 15 human remains of 10 bodies and recovered, from these human remains, about 21 personal items like watches, money, and bags," he told a press conference at the scene of the crash today.

Razarudin said the human remains had been sent to Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR), Klang, for a post-mortem to match the DNA samples provided by the 22 next of kin of the victims concerned.

Meanwhile, Razarudin said the police hoped to clear up the crash site, covering 11,000 square metres on the road, of pieces of the plane wreckage by this afternoon for the benefit of residents in the area.

"To clear the road, we have the Air Accident Investigation Bureau (BSKU), Crime Scene Investigation, as well as assistance from the fire and rescue department, the civil defence force, and the general operations force," he said.

When asked about the plane's black box, Razarudin confirmed that a cockpit voice recording was found at about 10pm yesterday and would be analysed by BSKU.

Meanwhile, he said that following an investigation, it was found that the driver of the car involved in the tragedy had cancelled a booking by a customer at 2pm, which was before the incident.

"The car driver 'rejected' the passenger at 2pm. We suspect the driver was alone, but we will know whether there were others after the DNA test," he said, urging those with footage of the incident to come forward to assist in the investigation.

A total of 10 victims were confirmed dead in the incident, including Pahang local government, housing, environment, and green technology committee chairman Johari Harun.

Eight of the victims were six passengers and two crew aboard the light aircraft, while the other two were a motorcyclist and a car driver who happened to be passing by the crash site.

The ill-fated aircraft was on its way from Langkawi to Subang and had been cleared to land at 2.48pm.

In Klang, it was a sombre morning as 30 family members and relatives of the crash victims started to arrive at the grounds of the forensic department, HTAR, to identify and claim their loved ones.

Their arrival at around 9.50am was greeted by the hospital officers on duty, who then led them to the tents that had been set up in front of the department for the process of identifying and claiming the bodies of the victims.

A survey by Bernama at the location found that three tents had been set up in the area, and the surrounding area is covered to protect the privacy of the relatives of the victims involved.