A LITTLE girl's screams for her mother brought many to tears at the funeral of Joanna Felicia Rohna, who was killed when two naval helicopters collided in Lumut, Perak, on Tuesday.
"Mummy, mummy where are you going", four-year-old Allesia Felice Haslie cried out as naval pall bearers carried Joanna’s casket out of the house in Kampung Engkaroh in Tebakang, some 120km from Kuching, to the village cemetery.
Allesia's father, Haslie Ali, who was carrying her nearly lost his hold on her as she tried to touch the casket.
Joanna, a Kampung Sumpas Tampek native, was among the 10 naval members who died when two navy helicopters collided mid-air over the Lumut naval base while rehearsing for a fly-by on the navy's 90th anniversary on Saturday.
Seven, including Joanna, were in the AW 139 helicopter while three others were in the Airbus Fennec helicopter when they crashed.
She was buried just before noon today.
Allescia's cries for her mother continued during the funeral service at the cemetery.
Her cries brought Serian MP Richard Riot to tears.
While Allescia was asking for her mother, her one-year-old brother Hovannes Haslie slept throughout the service.
The navy was represented by Rear Admiral Franklin Jeyasekhar Joseph, director of the littoral combat ship project team, while the army was represented by the 1st infantry division commanding officer Major General Fauzi Kamis and acting chief of staff Eastern Field Command Brigadier General Mohd Rafi Muhammad.
Felicia's body arrived at the RMAF Kuching base at midnight. It was flown in from Ipoh on an Air Force C-130 transport plane. – April 25, 2024.
