KOTA KINABALU, Oct 20 — A veteran Umno leader died while on board a plane flying from Kuala Lumpur to Sabah earlier today.

Former Sekong assemblyman Datuk Samsudin Yahya was said to have fallen asleep on the 2pm flight and died in his sleep after some 40 minutes, causing the plane to turn back to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

Media have quoted KLIA OCPD assistant commissioner Imran Abdul Rahman as confirming the case.

Sabah Umno chief and Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin broke the news on his Facebook page, and expressed his condolences to Samsudin’s widow, Datin Junaidah Aji.

He also said that efforts are underway to fly Samsudin’s body back to his hometown in the Sandakan district.

Samsudin was a three-term assemblyman for Sekong, having first contested the seat in the 2004 state elections.

He contested in the 2018 elections, but failed to defend it, losing it to Warisan’s Arifin Asgali.

Samsudin was also Umno’s Batu Sapi division chief.