By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Oct 6: Izzati Syamimi, widow of late pilot Captain Zainol Afiq, one of five victims killed in the Flying Doctor Service (FDS) helicopter crash in Long Lellang, Ulu Baram, on Sept 8, has questioned the support provided by the Ministry of Health (MOH) following the tragedy.
In a Facebook post dated Oct 5, she posted several pictures accompanied by texts, where she shared what appeared to be a screenshot of an article from health news portal CodeBlue, saying that the families of the late medical assistant Alexson Adit Henry and nurse Jessie Paya Jok—two other victims of the crash—had claimed that the MOH had given them little support and requested for additional compensation beyond ex-gratia payments.
“Don’t tell me MOH will just remain silent? Don’t tell me that Layang Layang must pay for everything, while they (MOH) simply keep quiet as if nothing happened? Layang Layang covered all the costs. My husband didn’t go on holiday,” she wrote.
She also posted another picture of the FDS team, accompanied by the caption, further questioning MOH’s support and noted that the Sarawak government contributed RM100,000 in financial assistance for each victim’s family.
Additionally, she also claimed that the police have yet to return her late husband’s phone to her or given her the police report number for the case.
“It’s already Oct 5, 2026. Don’t tell me to be patient. I don’t want sympathy—I want results,” she said.
Other than Zainol, Alexson, and Jessie, the other two victims were medical officer Dr Ainul Baraah Kamarudin and nurse Debra Moset.
The FDS helicopter crashed and caught fire near the end of the STOLport runway in Long Lellang, killing all five people on board.
On Sept 21, the MOH said it was working with the Public Service Department’s (PSD) Pension Division and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to ensure a smooth process for granting death ex-gratia payments, retirement benefit claims, and other benefits to the families and heirs of the victims.
According to CodeBlue, Alexson and Jessie’s families expected more support from the MOH seeing as the assistant medical officer and nurse died while carrying out their duties in the national health service before.
They also claimed that they have submitted documents for federal benefits but weren’t told exactly how much ex-gratia they would receive or when the process would be completed. — DayakDaily
