Elmina air crash: Pahang gov't leaves it to next of kin to decide on funeral arrangements

KLANG - The Pahang government is leaving it to the next of kin of victims of the aircraft crash near Bandar Elmina in Shah Alam to decide on the funeral arrangements.

Pahang State Legislative Assembly Speaker Datuk Seri Mohd Sharkar Shamsudin said this was a personal matter and also the right of the victims’ families.

"For the state government, it is up to the family to decide on the burial. It does not necessarily have to be a common grave; it is up to the families and we have to respect that," he said when met at the Forensic Department of Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (HTAR) here today.

Yesterday, the media reported that the remains of the victims are likely to be buried in a common grave if the next of kin agree.

The authorities informed the next of kin about this during a short briefing at the forensic department.

Mohd Sharkar said the state government would focus on other matters to expedite and facilitate the funeral process.

The Thursday afternoon crash killed 10 people - all eight onboard the Beechcraft Model 390 (Premier 1) aircraft and an e-hailing driver and a p-hailing rider on the ground.

Checks by Bernama showed that no next of kin turned up at the tent outside HTAR’s Forensic Department this afternoon.

Datin Seri Maziah Samsudin, the wife of the late Pahang Local Government, Housing, Environment and Green Technology Committee chairman Datuk Seri Johari Harun, was seen at the Forensic Department at 11am today.

She also met Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan to get the latest information on her husband's remains.

Hussein told reporters that another DNA matching result was expected this evening and the body would be handed over to the next of kin tomorrow morning. - BERNAMA