(File Photo)
SIBU: A family member of the four hostages from Sibu who were abducted in Sabah waters on April 2 by armed militants received a telephone call on Tuesday night.
The four— Wong Teck Kang, Wong Teck Chii, Johnny Lau and Wong Hung Sing — are reportedly safe.
Mother of the 21-year-old Lau confirmed yesterday that Teck Kang’s father, Chee Ming, received a call from his son Teck Kang after 10 days of silence.
She said Teck Kang told his father that the four of them were safe, but he did not reveal their whereabouts.
Lau’s mother said: “We shall leave the matter to the police and the Malaysian Government to work with the authorities in the Philippines to protect the four and bring them home safely.
“We can only pray and hope now.”
The mother did not reveal whether a ransom was mentioned by the militants.
Chee Ming, who is also Teck Chii’s father, is the younger brother of Johnny’ mother.
Johnny’s mother said she received the news soon after Teck Kang called because the two families are neighbours in Pulau Li Hua.
Meanwhile, Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun, when contacted, refused to comment on the said telephone call.
“When the time is right, I will personally call for a press conference. Until then, let us do our job. We have to remember that four lives are at stake here.”
A representative of the tugboat company in Miri, when contacted yesterday, refused to comment, too. She said they had done their part as employer by lodging a police report, and the company had left the case to the police.
“There is nothing for me to comment because we have done our part as a company should. The investigation is ongoing, so we cannot further comment for the safety of the abducted crewmen,” she said
On April 2, the four seamen were kidnapped by eight gunmen who boarded their tugboat about 100km from Tawau.
The tug boat was then heading for Tawau from Manila. There were nine crewmen on board.
The militants only abducted the four Malaysians. The remaining five were Myanmar and Indonesian nationals, and they were allowed to continue their journey to Tawau.