Published on : Friday, April 4, 2014
The Philippine Navy says it has deployed its watercraft in the southern Philippine province of Tawi-Tawi to search for a female Chinese tourist and a Filipino female worker who were kidnapped on Wednesday night from a resort in the nearby eastern Malaysian state of Sabah.
Captain Ma. Rowena Muyuela, the spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Western Mindanao Command, said the naval search was launched after they were alerted by their Malaysian counterpart about the abduction of a 29-year-old tourist from Shanghai, China, and the 40-year-old resort worker.
The two were forcibly taken from Singahmata Reef Resort off Semporna, Sabah, by armed men at around 10:30 pm, Wednesday. The kidnappers took the victims away in a motorized pumpboat which was monitored heading towards the Philippine border in the Tawi-Tawi area.
Muyuela, however, said that there has been no reported sighting of the kidnappers and the victims in the area. No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping incident but the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf is said to be behind the kidnapping operation in the area.
The Philippine military noted that the latest kidnapping incident was similar to what happened on Nov 15 last year when Taiwanese businessman Li Min Shu, 58, was killed in Pom Pom Island Resort in Semporna while his wife Chang An Wei, 57, was taken by gunmen.
Chang, who is believed to have been kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf, was rescued by Philippine Marines in a village of Patikul town, Sulu Province 36 days later.
Meanwhile, China on Thursday appealed to Malaysian police to rescue the Chinese national. China urged the Malaysian police to conduct a rescue operation, ensure the abductee’s safety, and take measures to protect other Chinese tourists, said Hong.
Tags: Filipino resort worker, Philippine Navy, Philippine Navy starts search for abducted female Chinese tourist, Philippine province of Tawi-Tawi
|
||
   
|
||
