10 000 flee after tsunami hoax

2005-01-04 11:53

Kuala Lumpur - More than 10 000 residents in coastal districts of Malaysia's Sabah state fled their homes in panic during the weekend after rumours that a tsunami was coming their way, a report said on Tuesday.

The New Straits Times said many ran while others used vehicles to get to higher ground in villages in the Borneo Island state late on Sunday after word spread that large waves had submerged a nearby Philippines island and was heading towards Sabah.

Nearly 68 people died in Malaysia in a December 26 earthquake and resultant tsunamis, which killed more than 145 000 people around southern and southeastern Asia.

Semporna district police chief Abdul Latif Ibrahim said authorities were trying to trace the source of the weekend's rumours, which had caused chaos in the Semporna and Lahad Datu areas.

Warnings about tsunami

He said the hoax could have been created by groups planning to loot abandoned homes. Police have to coax residents to return home and were patrolling the villages.

Semporna resident Lina Abdul was quoted as saying, "she received calls from friends warning her to flee as giant waves were going to hit the town".

A mother of four said: "We were so scared because some people were saying the Philippines had been flattened by earthquakes and tsunamis."

The coastal town of Semporna on the east coast of Sabah is several hours by speedboat from Philippine waters. Many of the villagers have relatives in the southern Philippines.

While Malaysia lies closer to the epicentre of last month's earthquake than many countries harder hit, it was protected from the full force of the waves by Indonesia's Sumatra Island.

- SAPA