A Man Tries to Swim from Malaysia to Mecca

Mecca, MINA – Malaysian police rescued a man who was found floating in the sea. The 28-year-old man is known to have tried to swim from the northern island of Penang to Mecca, Saudi Arabiya. He reportedly jumped into the sea from Tanjung City Marina Penang.

It was his second attempt at long-distance swimming in the past two weeks, police said, adding that the unidentified man was currently receiving treatment in a psychiatric ward.

“Yesterday at around 4:55 p.m., the Jalan Pantai Police received a call from a resident that a man was found floating in the sea near the Marina City Tanjung pier,” said Northeast Police Chief ACP Soffian Santong, adding that footage of the man floating in the sea went viral on social media, Alaraby reported on Saturday.

Police investigation revealed that the man had previously been detained on July 12 when he tried to swim to another part of Penang Island from Marina City Tanjung. It came after he was barred from boarding the ferry due to coronavirus travel restrictions.

“This time, the reason he wanted to swim was because he wanted to go to the holy land of Mecca,” Soffian said, referring to the latest incident.

He said that after a drug test, the man tested negative and was now placed in a psychiatric ward for treatment. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)