Four Sarawakian sailors kidnapped at sea

KOTA KINABALU: Four Sarawakian crewmen on a Malaysian cargo ship have been kidnapped in a raid by armed gunmen off Pulau Ligitan, eastern Sabah, at 7pm on Friday night.

Miri police chief Junaidi Bujang said the four men, aged between 21 and 34, were from Sibu and were working on board the m.v. Masfive 6, which had transported timber from Malaysia to Manila in the Philippines, Bernama reported.

Star Online named them as Wong Teck Pang, 41; Wong Hung Song, 44; Wong Teck Chi, 39; and Johnny Lau Jung Hien, 21.

However Junaidi said the names of the abducted victims could not be disclosed to avoid panic among their family members.

The victims were taken away in a speed boat and so far their fate is still not known, he said.

He said a manager of the shipping company had lodged a report with Miri police after receiving a phone call from a colleague in Sabah about the abduction.

The Star Online report said eight Filipino gunmen in a speedboat raided the Masfive 6 near Pulau Ligitan, took away the four men and headed off into Philippine waters.

The other crew, three Myanmar nationals and two Indonesians sailed the ship to Tawau where they were headed after sending a consignment of logs to Manila, Star Online reported.

It is the second kidnap in the waters off Sabah this week. On Monday, gunmen believed to be from the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group kidnapped 10 Indonesian crewmen from a Taiwanese tugboat and demanded ransom of US$1 million for their release.

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