KUALA LUMPUR: The deaths of the 10 crew members in the Lumut helicopter crash represented an immense loss to the country, said Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
He said all had dedicated their lives until the very end to the country's safety and sovereignty.
"Their passing is an immense loss to the country. They had dedicated their lives to the end solely for the safety and the sovereignty of our nation.
"(Following this,) the government will continue to extend assistance to our heroes and their families, including the arrangements for their final journey," he said in a Facebook post.
Khaled also called upon all Malaysians to unite and pray for all the victims.
"I met with the victims' next of kin earlier at the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) base and there are no words that I can say except for Allah SWT to give them (the families) the strength to face such great trial.
"Al-Fatihah and thank you to our national heroes."
Earlier today, an Agusta Westland AW139 Maritime Operations Helicopter (HOM) and a Eurocopter Fennec collided during a mid-air manoeuvre during a flypast training for the RMN's 90th-anniversary celebrations scheduled between May 3 to 5.
Khaled had said after the tragedy that the planned celebrations would be cancelled and replaced with a 'doa selamat'.
