REUTERS
The pilots of a Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) jet that went missing north of Kuantan near the Pahang-Terengganu border have been found dead, Malaysian state media reported on Thursday (Jun 15), according to Channel NewsAsia.
The two pilots of the Hawk 108 fighter jet were found in a swamp near Chukai in Terengganu at 2.30 p.m. on Thursday, according to the Bernama news agency, Channel NewsAsia wrote.
The victims were identified as Major Hasri Zahari, 31, and Major Yazmin Mohamed Yusof, 39. Both airmen were found with their parachutes strapped on but the wreckage of the jet had yet to be found.
Read alsoOne serviceman killed after An-26 plane makes hard landing in western Russia – mediaContact with the fighter jet was lost at 11.30 a.m. after the aircraft took off from the Kuantan airbase, according to the RMAF. A search and rescue operation was then launched.
Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, in a Twitter message, expressed his condolences and called for an investigation into the cause of the crash.