KOTA KINABALU: A local man suffered head injuries after being assaulted by four men, believed to be tourists from China, in front of a restaurant at the Waterfront here.
The victim identified only as Lai, received about a dozen stitches to the wound on his head sustained in the incident which occurred about 8.30pm on Monday night.
Lai was driving towards the car park at the Waterfront when he came upon a group of people standing and chatting at the entrance of the restaurant.
“As I inched my car forward, the group split up to make way for the vehicle to pass. However I accidentally drove over the foot of a man in the group. I parked my car and went to speak to the people there with the intention to find out if the man had sustained any injury.
“To my surprise, one of the men started shouting at me and he even spoke in Bahasa Melayu. As we waited for the police to come and help settle the matter, one of the men rushed at me and punched me in the face.
“As I was reeling from the shock of the impact, the others jumped on me and started hitting me with their fists. We then fell to the ground and they continued to pummel me. I defended myself the best I could and they only stopped when enforcement officers patrolling the area rushed in to pull them off me,” he claimed, adding that he was told that the assailants then ran away.
Lai was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital II emergency room by a Civil Defence Service ambulance where he received treatment for his injuries.
He later lodged a police report on the assault at the Karamunsing police station.
Earlier this year, it was reported that a local tourist guide was also assaulted by a tourist at the airport here.