 Unidentified armed men have kidnapped a Chinese tourist and a local employee in a raid at a holiday resort in eastern Malaysia, in yet another attack on tourists in the region plagued by frequent kidnap for ransom raids. The raid occurred at the Singamata Reef Resort in Malaysia’s easternmost state Sabah. The hotel manager, who asked to be identified only as Vicky, said five to six armed men raided the hotel around 10.30pm on Wednesday, and left by boat within minutes.  They took Gao Huayun, a 29-year-old female tourist from Shanghai, and a female hotel employee from the Philippines. Some 50 members of the police and military arrived within minutes and gathered all the remaining guests and staff in the resort's main hall. By Thursday morning, all 61 guests - 59 of them from mainland China - had decided to leave the resort. Ten new tourists, who arrived on Thursday, had decided to stay, she said. A local diving instructor and a Beijing-based hotel employee confirmed the kidnapping. This was the first time a kidnapping had occurred at the resort, they said. Liu Dongyuan, deputy consul general at the Chinese consulate in Kuching, Malaysia, said the Chinese tourist was vacationing with several friends at the resort. Liu Quan, the Chinese consul general in Kuching, had spoken directly with the police chief of Sabah and urged the police for a speedy rescue, said Liu Dongyuan. Consulate officials had boarded a flight to the Sabah resort on Thursday morning and would arrive soon, she added.  Photos shared online by eyewitnesses show a chaos and confusion as tourists crouched on the floor of a dining room behind overturned tables. Other photos showed men in uniforms with rifles and bulletproof vests, possibly Malaysian security personnel, securing the resort after the raid. Local police could not be reached for immediate comment. It is latest in a series of raids on hotels in Sabah. Many have been attributed to insurgent groups from the Sulu archipelago in the Philippines. A Taiwanese tourist was found shot dead after being kidnapped in Semporna, the district where Wednesday’s raid occurred, in November last year. His wife was later rescued by Philippines security forces in the southern Philippine island province of Sulu. The Chinese consulate in Kuching issued a warning on its website on Thursday, urging Chinese tourists to take precaution when traveling in the area. Travellers with questions or requests for help were encouraged to contact the consulate at 006012-8861953  006012-8861953. SCMP |
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