SARAWAK mourns this week and the whole nation mourns with her.

After 17 agonising days, the intensive search for the seven on board the missing Hornbill Skyways helicopter in the mountainous Borneo terrain is finally over. As fate would have it, none survived.

As I write this, DNA and forensic experts are involved in the nightmarish and tedious identification process of the bodies which are reported to be badly decomposed.

If there is any consolation to us, and to the family members in particular, it is that those who perished did not suffer. The drop from such a height would mean death on impact.

For the families of those who perished in the tragedy, no words can describe their pains and sorrows. As such, I will not attempt to do so.

However, as we mourn with those whom they left behind, we do not remember them as minister, or Datuk, or CEO or prominent individuals. Rather, we think of them as husbands, fathers, and bread winners. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of them and to their loved ones.