Antal indlæg: 1907 Tilmeldt: 23.10.09 Status: Offline
A British tourist who was one of a group that some Malaysians believe caused a deadly quake when they posed naked on the country's tallest mountain is back home.
Twenty-three-year-old backpacker Eleanor Hawkins was one of four tourists, including two from Canada and one from the Netherlands, who climbed to the top of Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu and posed naked. Six days later an earthquake struck the area, killing 18 people.
Malaysians believed the tourists' actions caused the quake by angering the mountain spirits. The four were arrested and pleaded guilty to obscene behavior. They were each sentenced to three days in jail, ordered to pay a fine of US$1330, and deported.
Eleanor is now back home in Derby, where she apologised for her actions.
"I just want to say how relieved and happy I am to finally be home," she told a crowd of reporters. "I know my behaviour was foolish and I know how much offence we all caused to the local people of Sabah. For that, I am truly sorry."
Eleanor's mother, Ruth, said now that her daughter has been punished for her crime, "the case is now closed."
"We are, as you probably appreciate, really relieved to finally have Ellie home after what has been a very traumatic time for her. Ellie knows what she did was wrong and disrespectful and she is deeply sorry for any offence caused to the people of Sabah. Ellie has been appropriately and fairly judged by Malaysian authorities and has served her sentence in full. The case is now closed."
Foreign and domestic hikers flock to Sabah, in the northern part of Borneo, to climb the 4,095-metre (13,435-ft) Kinabalu, because it's one of the highest peaks in Southeast Asia.
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