KOTA KINABALU: Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) Commander Datuk Hazani Ghazali yesterday confirmed that five Indonesian fishermen were kidnapped in Tambisan waters near Lahad Datu on Thursday.

He said the incident occurred between 9 am and 10 pm, when eight fishermen went out to sea before five of them were believed to have been abducted.

“ESSCom is currently investigating and gathering more information from the three fishermen who escaped abduction,” he said when contacted, but declined to comment further.