In what is being descibed as a robbery gone wrong, three migrant workers from Myanmar were found dead early Monday morning in Penang, according to Malaysian media and the Myanmar embassy.
An official from the embassy in Malaysia told 7Day that men in masks tried to steal something from the workers and killed them in the process as they shouted for help.
“It’s not about religion,” the unnamed official was quoted as saying, attempting to dispel fears of possible Buddhist-Muslim violence. “They were killed after getting robbed. The Myanmar Embassy asked for data and information from that police station. And we’ll make an announcement.”
The New Straits Times, meanwhile, reported that a fourth man escaped the attacked with serious injuries.
State Criminal Investigation Department chief Datuk Razarudin Husain told the daily that two of the three murder victims, as well as the injured person, were occupants of a terrace house.
“The four were believed to have been slashed by a group of men during a fight at about 6.30am,” Razarudin was quoted as saying.
He added that the victims were aged 26 to 30 years old.
