Naked mountain climbers are accused of causing an earthquake in Malaysia.
The holidaymakers posed for a series of nude photos on Mount Kinabalu in the Malaysian state of Sabah. (Daily Mail)
A top Malaysian official accused several Western mountain climbers for causing an earthquake last week that killed 13 people.
CTV News reported:
A Malaysian official is blaming a group of foreigners including two Canadians for an earthquake that struck Malaysia’s highest peak on Friday, killing 13 people.
The deputy chief minister of Sabah state in Borneo said 10 foreigners “showed disrespect to the sacred mountain” by posing naked at Mount Kinabalu last week. Joseph Pairin Kitingan said a special ritual would be conducted later to “appease the mountain spirit.”
Officials have said the foreigners, who included two Canadians, two Dutch and a German national, broke away from their entourage and stripped naked before taking photos at the mountain peak on May 30.
Police have said five of the tourists are believed to still be in Malaysia and will be barred from leaving on the offence of gross indecency.
A spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs said they are aware of reports that two Canadians have been barred from leaving the country and that the Canadian High Commission in Malaysia is ready to provide consular services as needed.
Rescuers recovered the bodies of 11 climbers on Saturday. Six people remained missing on 4,095-metre high peak, where a magnitude-5.9 earthquake on Friday sent rocks and boulders raining down the trekking routes, trapping dozens of climbers.
Last week Pakistani politician Maulana Fazlur Rehman blamed women in jeans for earthquakes.
