KLANG: The remaining nine bodies of those involved in Elmina plane crash have been identified and will be released to their families today.
Selangor Police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the forensic department at Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital (HTAR) has expedited the process for all the remains to be quickly identified.
A convoy of nine funeral hearse started at the hospital mortuary at 9.20am led by Pelangai Assemblyman Datuk Seri Johari Harun's remains.
"We managed to get a positive match for all the remains found at the crash site and can confirm that no other civilian was involved the Beechcraft plane crash from Langkawi travelling to Subang," he said when met outside the Forensic Department grounds of HTAR here.
He said the identification process was complex and needed more time than regular cases to determine the victims' identities.
"The identification process was really difficult. That's why we took some time, and looking at the nature of the disaster, authorities also needed time to gather evidence at the scene.
"Both these processes including deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests takes up time but even so, we manage to identify everyone a day earlier than expected. This is the fastest possible.
"Alhamdulillah, we managed to complete all the processes by midnight last night. This morning we were able to hand them over to the next of kin," he said.
In addition to DNA test, he said authorities also used fingerprint identification methods and referred to odontology records to ascertain the identities.
Yesterday the remains of one of the of 10 victims, Muhammad Hafiz Muhammad Salleh, 32, was surrendered to his father for burial at Kampung Jerong in Kedah.
Hussein said today the bodies of Johari, followed by pilots Shahrul Kamal Roslan 41, and Heikal Aras Abdul Azim, 45, and the rest of the plane passengers Muhammad Taufik Mohd Zaki 37, Khairil Azwan Jamaludin 43, Shaharul Amir Omar, 49, Mohammad Naim Fawwas Mohamed Muaidi, 35, Idris Abdul Talib @ Ramali, 41, and an e-hailing driver Sharipudin fShaari, 51, will be escorted to their individual hometowns for burial.
Before departure prayers would be held at the Al Rahmiah mosque in Klang.
