The Malaysian Ministry of Defence says these photos show a dead woman’s body, not the bodies of two missing Malaysian soldiers
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on August 22, 2019 at 06:20
- 3 min read
- By AFP Malaysia
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The photos were published here by a Facebook page with more than 47,000 followers on July 25, 2019.
The post has been shared more than 850 times.
The Malaysian-language caption translates to English as: “2 members of the army Royal Ranger Regiment (RRD) who were lost in Perak Island last week have been found........both died..alfatihah”.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:
“RRD” refers to the Royal Ranger Regiment, the infantry regiment of the Malaysian army.
“Alfatihah” is the name of the first chapter in the Koran which Muslims recite in times of difficulty and to pray for the dead.
The photos were published after two Malaysian soldiers were reported missing on July 19, 2019.
AFP was told on August 6, 2019, over the phone by Maritime Commander Shahrizan Raman that the search has stopped after three days as per standard operating procedure, and it has been put on hold pending new information. “There has been no sign whether (they are) lost at sea or the island,” he said.
The rescue and search operation was jointly conducted by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency and the Malaysian Armed Forces.
The same photos were published in this Facebook post with a similar claim.
The claim is false. The Ministry of Defence published a statement here on its official Facebook page on July 25, 2019, stating that the photos did not show the bodies of the missing soldiers.
Below is a screenshot of the statement:
The Malaysian-language statement translates to English as: “Denial of the viral pictures of the soldiers in Perak Island being found.
“The Ministry of Defence would like to deny the picture that has gone viral on social media today that claims that the two members of the army (TDM) from the Fourth Battalion of the Royal Ranger Regiment (4 RRD) who have gone missing while on duty in Operation PEJARAK (Op PEJARAK) in Perak Island were found last evening.
“The TLDM boat picture that went viral is actually a boat that belongs Royal Sailboat (KLD) TUNAS SAMUDERA which has found a body of a dead woman while sailing through the north Straits of Melaka on July 23, 2019. The body has been handed over to the Tanjung Tokong Police Station and post-mortem was conducted at the Penang Island Hospital.
“The Ministry of Defence would like to clarify that the search operation of the two soldiers who have been discovered missing since July 19, 2019, is still ongoing by the Royal Navy Malaysia (TLDM). The royal ship (KD) LAKSAMANA MUHAMMAD AMIN has been organised in this search operation that started on July 20, focused on the island and the surrounding waters.
“Therefore, hope all parties stop and not spread any untrue news or information to avoid confusion and to respect the family members of the victims.”
Local newspaper Berita Harian published this report about the photos on July 25, 2019.
The report’s Malaysian-language headline translates to English as: “The Ministry of Defence denies news of 2 missing soldiers found.”
The report published the same photo as the image in the misleading Facebook post.
Below is a side-by-side comparison of the photo in the misleading post (L) and the image in the Berita Harian report (R):
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