Russian couple who climbed Merdeka 118 may have entered Malaysia illegally, says source

PETALING JAYA: There is no record of the Russian couple who went viral for climbing to the top of the Merdeka 118 tower exiting or entering the country, according to the Malaysian Immigration Department.

However, Utusan Malaysia reported that the authorities would continue to investigate the matter in detail.

"Checks revealed that both suspects are not inside the country and investigations found that there were no records of them entering or leaving in the Immigration Department system," said a source quoted by Utusan.

The source said the authorities were still continuing the investigation, including investigating the possibility of them entering Malaysia illegally.

Based on CCTV analysis at the tower, the source said there were no glimpses of the couple trespassing on the building that is not yet operational.

"We have also called nine individuals including staff and workers at the tower after the viral incident," said the source.

Commenting further, the source said that the authorities are also waiting for the video analysis results by Cyber Security Malaysia to determine whether the video clip is genuine or a result of high technology.

Last week, a couple went viral after they uploaded a video clip of being on top of the Merdeka 118 tower on the website SkyscraperCity.com.

Through the video clip, the couple is believed to be using a drone to take pictures after claiming to climb the stairs from inside the tower to reach the top.