Two abducted by armed men from Semporna resort

Seven men stormed a resort in Semporna, Sabah before abducting two people – a tourist from China and a Filipino worker.

According to police the incident happened at around 10.30pm on Wednesday after the group of men arrived at the resort by boat armed with M14 rifles.

Three of the suspects – one of whom was wearing a face mask – entered the resort while the others waited in the boat.

They then proceeded to abduct without incident a resort worker and a tourist from China who had been vacationing at the resort.

The victims have been identified as Marcy Dayawan, 40, a Filipino resort worker and Gao Hua Yuan, 29, a tourist from China.

Goa had checked in to the resort yesterday and had planned to stay until Saturday.

Initial investigations revealed the suspects are from the Philippine island of Sulu and they are believed to have fled to Pulau Gaya, an island off the coast of Kota Kinabalu.

There were 61 tourists staying at the resort at the time of the incident, with some 47 employees on duty.

The distance between the resort and Semporna town is approximately 2.2 nautical miles.

The Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) personnel together with the General Operations Force (GOF), the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) had been deployed to track down the suspects.