Malaysian official blames earthquake on tourists who got naked for picture

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Police have detained five Westerners accused of posing naked to take photos on a Malaysian mountain — an act that has been blamed for causing the earthquake that killed 18 climbers last week.

Police obtained a court order to detain them for four days while they're investigated for indecent behavior, Sabah state police chief Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman said Wednesday.

Two Canadian siblings and a Dutch male surrendered at a police station in Sabah on Tuesday evening, he said. A British woman, identified as 24-year-old Eleanor Hawkins, was detained at a Sabah airport earlier Tuesday while trying to fly to Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia's Foreign Affairs Ministry identified the siblings to The Canadian Press news agency as Lindsey Petersen and Danielle Petersen. Another Canadian, 33-year-old Emil Kaminski, was arrested Wednesday. The remaining five were being sought by Malaysian police.

They were believed to be part of a group of people who stripped naked before taking photos May 30 at Mount Kinabalu.

A magnitude-5.9 earthquake Friday killed 18 climbers.

Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan blamed the tragedy on the foreigners for showing “disrespect to the sacred mountain” by posing naked at the peak.