Helicopter carrying flying-doctor team crashes in Sarawak, killing all five aboard

A BO-105 helicopter operated by Malaysia’s Service de médecins volants crashed on Tuesday in the remote Sarawak region of Borneo, near the Long Lellang airfield close to the border with Indonesia’s North Kalimantan province. The aircraft was carrying a team of medical personnel tasked with providing health care to isolated communities that rely on air transport. According to the fire-rescue service (Bomba) and the Ministry of Health, the pilot, 32-year-old doctor Ainul Baraah, and three other medical crew members all perished.

Disaster-management head Galong Luang confirmed the death toll in a statement. The Malaysian Civil Aviation Authority has dispatched an accident investigation team, which is expected to arrive at the site on Wednesday. The Flying Doctors Service regularly flies mobile clinics into remote jungle areas, highlighting the risks of such essential outreach missions.