Lumut crash: 'Amirulfaris was nice, firm and respectful to the elderly'
He was the eldest of four siblings and they had known each other since his family moved there in 2018.
SEREMBAN - Lieutenant Commander Mohammad Amirulfaris Mohamad Marzukhi, who perished in the helicopter collision involving two Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) helicopters on Tuesday, was described by his neighbour as a good person.
His neighbour Mohd Nazri Abu Samah, 55, said the last time he met the deceased was at the end of last year when he returned to visit his family.
"He was nice, firm, and respectful to the elderly. He was married and if I am not mistaken, he has two children who live in Sabah because he was stationed there.
"When I heard this news, I was saddened because he was a good person, so is his family," he said when met by reporters at his home in Taman Senawang Perdana here on Tuesday.
Nazri said Amirulfaris was the eldest of four siblings and they had known each other since his family moved there in 2018.
He said he only learned about the incident upon returning home when he realised his wife was not at home.
"When I went to his family home, that was when I found out the incident also involved him. I really did not expect it, and when I met his parents, they were sad and still shocked.
"They went to Lumut, Perak earlier today (Tuesday) for the funeral arrangements and I was entrusted to look after their house," he said.
He added that several residents here also came to visit the family and assist in making preparations in case Amirulfaris’s body would be brought back here.
However, he said he was waiting for further developments from the family.
RMN on Tuesday confirmed that 10 of its members died in the incident at 9.32am, which involved seven crew members of the Maritime Operations Helicopter (HOM-AW139) and three other RMN Fennec crew members.
Perak Police Chief, Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri reportedly said that the victims, comprising seven men and three women, were members of the RMN Lumut and Kota Kinabalu Bases.
During the incident, all involved crew members were participating in a training session in conjunction with the 90th RMN Day Parade at the RMN Lumut Base involving the HOM (M503-3) aircraft and the Fennec aircraft.
Besides Amirulfaris, six other crew members aboard the HOM AW139 Aircraft were identified as Commander Muhammad Firdaus Ramli; Lieutenant Commander Wan Rezaudeen Kamal Wan Zainal Abidin; Lieutenant Commander Muhammad Faisol Tamadun; Noorfarahimi Mohd Saedy, Noor Rahiza Anuar, and Joanna Felicia Rohna.
The other three crew members aboard the Fennec Aircraft were identified as Commander Muhamad Amir Mohamad, Lieutenant T Sivasutan and Mohd Shahrizan Mohd Termizi.
