11 dead, 8 still missing on Malaysia mountain after quake

Sabah state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun said the search team spotted nine more bodies on Saturday on the 4,095-meter-high mountain, which is located on the west coast of Sabah state on Borneo island. Earlier, Ranau district police chief Mohamad Farhan Lee Abdullah said search-and rescue personnel had brought down two bodies, that of a 30-year-old male local mountain guide and a 12-year old Singaporean girl late Friday. "This is a very sad day for Kinabalu," he told a press conference at the Kinabalu National Park Headquarters. The identities of the nine additional fatalities were not immediately known as search-and-rescue personnel were still attempting to reach them through treacherous steep rocky terrain, Masidi said. "From the Kinabalu Park management, I want to express my condolences to the family of the victims," he said. A total of 187 climbers from 21 countries together with 107 mountain guides, park rangers and lodge workers were at the peak when the quake hit shortly after 7 a.m. Friday, triggering rockfalls that closed off access and left them stranded. An overnight operation has managed to bring down all but 17 people by foot. Among those still unaccounted for are three local mountain guides, eight Singaporean climbers, three Malaysian climbers and one each from Japan, China and the Philippines. Most of those who died were doing the "via ferrata" route. Via ferrata, Italian for "iron road" is a more extreme form of climbing with climbers attached to ropes secured to pegs hammered into near vertical slopes on certain stretches. Mountain Torq, the company running the route, touts it as the world's highest via ferrata, beginning at 3,200 meters and ending off at 3,776 meters above sea level. The eight Singaporeans missing are believed to be part of a group of 38 primary school students and two teachers from Singapore who were on school holiday excursions to Mt. Kinabalu. Masidi said the mountain will be closed for three weeks but the park will still be open for tourists. He said this is because the trek up the mountain is still dangerous as it is still littered with loose rocks. Some facilities along the way have also been badly damaged. The Kinabalu National Park, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage site, is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Sabah. Masidi said he is not concerned about losing tourists with the closure. "That is the last thing in my mind. My only concern is safety," he said. Sabah Park Director Jamili Nais told Kyodo News that this was the worst tragedy to have happened on the mountain, which is considered sacred by locals. There were previous reports of hikers tumbling to their deaths, but these have always been lone incidents. Sabah's Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan blamed the tragedy on five "uncivilized" foreigners who stripped naked at the peak last week to celebrate their achievement in conquering the mountain. Photographs of their antics have been circulating widely on social media. "This is a very offensive behavior and showed disrespect to the sacred mountain," he said in a joint press conference with Masidi. "This will certainly bring misfortune...We cannot play with the spirit of the sacred mountain," he added. Masidi said a special ritual will be conducted soon to "appease the mountain spirit." Authorities are also trying to track down the foreigners following calls that they should face the court. Friday's quake had a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers, with its epicenter located 12 km from Ranau, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Sabah has a history of earthquakes since it is located near, though outside, the Pacific Ring of Fire that includes some 450 volcanoes and accounts for 90 percent of the world's earthquakes. Source: Kyodo