The tourists in the midst of undressing at the peak of Mt Kinabalu.
KOTA KINABALU: All exit routes in the country, particularly Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, are on high alert for the 10 foreign tourists who stripped naked and posed nude on Mount Kinabalu recently.
Sabah Immigration Director Noor Alam Khan Wahid Khan said the step was taken after his department received five names of the 10 climbers who allegedly appeared naked in photographs that have since gone viral in social media.
“We received the five names from the police around 1pm today (yesterday) and I have instructed all officers and personnel to tighten security at all exit points to detect them.
“Once we detect them, we will detain them and hand them over to the police for further investigation,” he said yesterday.
It is learnt that the five names detected are four men and a woman.
Among those were two brothers from Canada, identified as Lindsey Petersen, 23, and Danielle Petersen, 22; Dylan Thomas, 23, from Netherlands, and Stephan Pohlner, 28, from Germany.
The sole woman has been identified as Eleanor Hawrins, 23, from the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, Ranau police chief DSP Mohd Farhan Lee Abdullah said no arrest had been made and police were still investigating the case under Section 290 of the Penal Code.
The shocking incident came to light after photographs of foreign tourists posing nude on Mount Kinabalu went viral on Tuesday.
It is learnt that 27 tourists, all from Europe, had climbed Mt Kinabalu on May 30 as part of their holiday in the state.
After reaching the summit, 10 in the group, six men and four women, started undressing and posed nude for photographs near the South Peak area.
Their disrespectful act angered all Sabahans and they called on the authorities to take action against them.
Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun also said if investigation on the matter proved to be true, the perpetrators would be kicked out from Sabah immediately.
The incident is said to be the latest trend where groups of people who travel around the world would visit sacred sites and iconic places and then would document their visit by posing nude for photographs.