I cannot believe what has happened. That my dear colleague and cameraman Noramfaizul Mohd Nor is no more.

Noramfaizul Mohd Nor story I cannot bring myself to accept the fact that Noramfaizul ( right ), 39, was killed in a shooting incident on Friday here as we were covering the Putera 1Malaysia Club humanitarian mission to provide food and other aid to victims of the Somali drought and famine.

The shooting occurred when Noramfaizul and I from BernamaTV, along with the crew from TV3, Astro Awani and RTM, were travelling in a four-wheel-drive vehicle back to our living quarters from the operations centre about a kilometre away after covering the giving of aid to famine victims in this city.

noramfaizul mohd nor I was seated next to the driver while Noramfaizul was seated on the right at the rear. Beside him on the left was the TV3 cameraman Aji Saregar Mazlan, who was injured in the incident.

It happened in the blink of an eye, just as our vehicle turned left onto the road leading to the hostel where we were staying.

I heard two shots and saw the African Union peacekeepers' armoured vehicle overtake us. Soon after, I heard my media colleagues calling out the name of my cameraman. He was injured.

Panic and confusion

There was panic and confusion. I saw Noramfaizul collapse. He was brought out of the vehicle and given treatment at our hostel.

somalia war deserted street He was injured in a shoulder and I was informed later that the bullet had pierced his lungs. He died at about 6pm (11pm in Malaysia).

Noramfaizul's body was flown to Malaysia Saturday in a C-130 aircraft of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF).

The other 54 members of the aid mission also flew home as well, and are expected to arrive at the RMAF airbase in Subang Sunday, at about 9am Malaysian time.

Noramfaizul has covered three aid missions organised by Putera 1Malaysia Club in other countries as well.  

He came on two of the missions with me, to cover the suffering of victims of Israeli atrocities in Gaza and giving of aid to flood victims in Pakistan last year.

He also went with the mission to assist victims of the earthquake in New Zealand last year.

Noramfaizul, my friend, may your soul rest in peace. Al-Fatihah.

- Bernama