Two Chinese tourists missing in Sabah; duo believed to have been snorkelling before disappearance
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A pair of spectacles said to belong to the missing tourists was found by the beach in the northern part of the island, said The Star.
PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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A search is under way for two Chinese tourists missing in Sabah.
The pair, Mr Yu Xiaopeng, 25, and Ms Fan Qin, 28, had checked into a resort on Mantanani Island off Kota Belud on Oct 4 and were supposed to check out on Oct 5, according to Malaysian news outlet The Star.
However, when resort employees went to the room after the guests had exceeded the checkout time, they found the duo’s belongings still inside, said The Star.
The Malaysian news outlet said on Oct 10 that Mr Yu and Ms Fan are believed to have been snorkelling before they went missing. A pair of spectacles believed to belong to one of them was found by the beach in the northern part of the island.
About 80 personnel from various agencies are involved in the search for the duo, on the ground, at sea and from the air, as the operation entered its sixth day on Oct 10, reported The Star.
It said the police received a missing persons report from the resort at around 8pm on Oct 5.
The police told The Star that witnesses said the man was last seen wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and long pants, while the woman was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and black knee-length pants.
Chinese media reports said the duo’s families have already arrived in Sabah capital Kota Kinabalu, or are in the process of travelling there.
A friend of Mr Yu’s told Southern Metropolis Daily that the missing duo are just friends vacationing together.
Jimu News reported Mr Yu’s sister saying that she did not know her brother had gone vacationing with a woman, nor was she aware of the nature of the duo’s relationship.
The Chinese news outlet said that Mr Yu mentioned in a WeChat group chat on Oct 3 that he might snorkel, paddleboard or watch the sunset the next day.
According to Southern Metropolis Daily, Mr Yu posted his last message on social media at around 4pm on Oct 4 before disappearing. A tourist told the news outlet’s reporters that it started raining very heavily in the area around the same time.
A friend of Ms Fan’s told China Press that she saw a photo of Mr Yu wearing a black diving suit with a snorkel in hand walking along the coast with a woman who looked like Ms Fan at around 4.30pm on Oct 4.
Mr Yu Xiaopeng, 25, and Ms Fan Qin, 28, are believed to have been snorkelling before they went missing.
PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
On Oct 7, Mr Yu’s colleagues used one of his tablet computers to look for the signal locations of Mr Yu’s phone and Bluetooth earphones, said Jimu News.
The results showed that the phone’s last signal was sent from deep in the sea. One of the earphones remained in the town while the other was at sea.
