TIME Malaysia

Tourists Detained in Malaysia After Nude Photos Were Said To Cause Quake

Malaysia Earthquake mount kinabalu
AP Mount Kinabalu is photographed hours after a magnitude 5.9 earthquake shook the area in Kundasang, Sabah, Malaysia, June 5, 2015.

Six more nude tourists remain at large

Malaysian authorities have detained four tourists for taking nude photos on the country’s Mount Kinabalu a few days before the country was rocked by a devastating earthquake that killed at least 16, Agence France-Presse reported. Some local leaders have blamed the earthquake on the tourists’ public display of nudity.

The detained tourists — two from Canada, one from the U.K. and one from the Netherlands — had broken away from their tour group on May 30 to take the risqué snaps despite the mountain being considered sacred by certain local groups. The photos went viral after the earthquake on June 5, with some blaming the disaster on the display of public indecency. Authorities are still looking for six other tourists who joined in the photos.

“We detained all four of them on Tuesday… and yes we are still searching for the other six tourists, and we will catch them,” said Sabah police commissioner Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman, according to AFP.

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