QZ8501: Remains of Malaysian victim on board flown to Kuching

The body of the sole Malaysian passenger on a crashed AirAsia Indonesia flight was flown here today from Indonesia in a Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) aircraft.

The remains of businessman Sii Chung Huei, 56, arrived at the RMAF base here in an RMAF C130 Hercules aircraft at 2.20 pm.

On hand to receive the remains were family members and staff of AirAsia and the Sarawak branch of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM). Sii's wife Annie Wong Mun Ngiik is a lecturer at UiTM Sarawak.

Wong and her son and daughter were among those who had accompanied the remains from Surabaya, Indonesia.

Military liaison officer Capt Mohd Hafiz Mohd Sabilah said bad weather had delayed the flight by about 50 minutes. The aircraft pilots were Lt Col Nor Mohamad Jafri Suboh and Capt Mohamad Samsul Mohamad Yusof.

Capt Mohd Hafiz conveyed a request from Sii's family to reporters to respect their privacy and not approach them for comments.

Sii will be buried at the Nirvana Memorial Park in Siniawan, Bau, near here tomorrow morning.

He was on the ill-fated AirAsia Indonesia Flight QZ8501 flying from Surabaya to Singapore on Dec 28 last year when it crashed into the Java Sea in stormy weather.

Sii was among the 162 people on board. So far, 100 bodies had been recovered from the sea by search teams. The black box of the aircraft was recovered two weeks ago.

Malaysia's Ambassador to Indonesia Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim said Sii's body was found a few days ago but was identified only on Monday after a DNA test.