RM10,000 initial aid for families of Lumut helicopter crash victims

 

Defence minister Khaled Nordin said all costs, including for flights and funeral arrangements, would be fully covered by the armed forces. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: The government has agreed to extend an initial aid of RM10,000 to the families of the 10 people who died in the collision between two Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) helicopters at the naval base in Lumut yesterday.

In a statement, defence minister Khaled Nordin said a special fund would also be established to facilitate public contributions to the families.

“All costs, including for flights and funeral arrangements, will be fully covered by the armed forces,” he said.

Khaled reiterated that the inquiry board had been instructed to release an interim report on the crash within the next two weeks, followed by a full report within a month.

In the 9.32am incident yesterday, two RMN helicopters crashed while conducting a third rehearsal for a fly-past as part of the navy’s 90th anniversary event, initially scheduled for this Saturday.

Post-mortems on the 10 people who were killed in the collision have been completed. - FMT