Tabligh members from Indonesian gathering nabbed in Tawau
CORONAVIRUS | A group of tabligh members who had gone to Indonesia to attend a gathering earlier this week, have been detained.
FMT reported that the group had tried to enter Sabah waters off Tawau on a boat but was intercepted by marine police, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and armed forces at around 3.20pm.
Authorities had been tipped off that the group would be returning this morning after they reached Sebatik Island, Indonesia.
However, it is not clear how many were detained...
CORONAVIRUS | A group of tabligh members who had gone to Indonesia to attend a gathering earlier this week, have been detained.
FMT reported that the group had tried to enter Sabah waters off Tawau on a boat but was intercepted by marine police, Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and armed forces at around 3.20pm.
Authorities had been tipped off that the group would be returning this morning after they reached Sebatik Island, Indonesia.
However, it is not clear how many were detained.
Tawau police chief Peter Ambuas was quoted as saying that 12 were nabbed, but Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said at a press conference earlier that there were 11 of them.
The group are now under quarantine and are being tested for Covid-19.
The gathering was aborted on Thursday after pressure from the Indonesian government but thousands had already gathered in Gowa, near Makassar over the past few days.
Hisham said the government estimated that there are between 80 to 100 people who were planning to attend the Sulawesi gathering.
The government had said they will place them under quarantine when they return.
Concerns about the Sulawesi Tabligh gathering came following a similar gathering in Kuala Lumpur between Feb 27 and March 1, which led to many participants being infected with Covid-19.
So far at least six Malaysians from the tabligh cluster have died.
Keep up with the latest information on the outbreak in the country with Malaysiakini's free Covid-19 tracker.
