According to police officials, four Malaysians were kidnapped by gunmen off the coast of Semporna on Friday night, less than a week after 10 sailors from Indonesia were abducted nearby.
The Sabah police have identified the four as brothers Wong Teck Kang and Wong Teck Suu, Johny Lau Jung Hien and Wong Hung Sing aged between 21 and 34 and hail from the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo.
They were reportedly heading to Tawau with empty vessel after delivering logs to Manila. That’s when their tugboat was intercepted by masked gunmen near Ligitan Island just before the nightly curfew that starts by 7pm. They were taken away in a speed boat into Filipino waters.
According to other crew members from Myanmar and Indonesia who were released by the kidnappers, the eight gunmen were heard speaking in Tagalog and English. There are no reports of any ransom demand made.
A spokesman for the armed forces of the Philippines, said the military was working with Malaysian officials to investigate.
Source: The New York Times
