Sabah mulls reviewing daily quota for trekkers to Mount Kinabalu

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is reviewing the number of people allowed to trek up Sabah's Mount Kinabalu daily, in a measure to improve their safety.

State Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun said what was more important, however, was for those climbing to the summit to obey the rules set by Sabah Parks.

"The rules are there for a reason, to ensure their safety," he said after launching a book on Sabah's Bornean elephants Tuesday.

According to the Sabah Tourism Board, a maximum of 196 climbers are allowed daily.

On Monday, a 22-year-old German, university student Victoria Paulsen, slipped and fell to her death from the summit.

Masidi said preliminary reports from Sabah Parks officials showed that the German national had stepped outside the fenced area on the peak.

"From what we gather, she was sitting on rock to snap photos of the sunrise when it suddenly gave way and she fell down a slope," said Masidi, who extended the Sabah government's condolences to Paulsen’s family.

Masidi said this was the first incident of someone falling of the 4,095m Low's Peak, adding that the presence of dozens of people on the summit had never been a safety issue previously.

Poulsen, who was among a group of at least 20 people on the summit at the time, fell down a 30m slope and died on the spot, in the 6am incident.

Rangers rushed to the summit and cautiously descended the steep and slippery slope to retrieve her body, which was brought back to the Timpohon Gate at the mountain base around 5.05pm.

A post mortem will be carried out at the Ranau District Hospital later Tuesday.

Officials from the German Embassy in Kuala Lumpur confirmed that Poulsen's family had been informed of her death.