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British tourist arrested for naked stunt on mountain
A British tourist has been detained in Malaysia for posing naked on the top of Mount Kinabalu along with nine other backpackers just days before a devastating earthquake that killed 18 climbers and left others stranded on its slopes.
Authorities in Sabah on the island of Borneo where the mountain is located claim that the group who stripped at the summit caused the quake by angering the ‘spirits’ with their antics.
Southampton University graduate Eleanor Hawkins was arrested on Tuesday at Tawau airport as she was trying to fly from Borneo to Kuala Lumpur, according to the Telegraph.
Three others, two Canadians and a Dutchman, were also detained after handing themselves into police on the island.
A third Canadian, Emil Kaminski, who is thought to be the ringleader, was arrested on Wednesday. The other members of the group are still being hunted by Malaysian authorities.
Hawkins, aged 24, and the other detainees face obscenity charges which carry a possible sentence of three months in prison.
A local elder in Sabah has also called for them to be fined 10 head of buffalo, to be sacrificed to appease the mountain spirits.
Climbing activities on Mount Kinabalu have been suspended for three weeks following the earthquake.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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