A 50-year-old woman was one of the two individuals kidnapped by four armed assailants at a seafood restaurant in Sandakan tonight.

Ocean King Seafood restaurant manager identified as Chung Yung Tiam who managed to escape from the kidnappers said the woman, Thien Nyuk Fun is his sister-in-law. The other victim was a man known as Bernard Ghen Ted Fen, 36.

The armed kidnappers were clad in camouflaged army uniforms climbed up the stairs of the restaurant at approximately 8pm, said Chung.

The restaurant, famous among locals and tourists is situated about three kilometre from Sandakan town.

Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) director Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun confirmed that all assets have been deployed and border securities have been heightened.

At Press time, State police commissioner Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman briefly said that the police were still waiting for the report of the incident.

"Give me time to get the facts right,” said Jalauddin.


Meanwhile, Home Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi has confirmed that the kidnapping involved the a Malaysian husband and wife couple and occurred at 7.30pm.

The incident is believed to have happened during the exchange of police duty.

The boats used by the suspects are believed headed for the Philippines.

The waters surrounding the northeast of Sabah are being highly-guarded by the police, said Zahid. The authorities in the Philippines have also been notified, he added.