LAWAS: The police here have cordoned off the area around a 16-metre deep tunnel into a hill near Mengkalap CIQ in Lawas in which two of five men digging it died of suspected gas poisoning on Monday.
The whole town is abuzz with speculations over the reasons behind the digging of the tunnel.
Among the speculations were that the tunnel was dug through the hill to the Brunei side of the border to facilitate smuggling.
The five allegedly started digging the tunnel last December and so far the police have been told they were searching for a water source.
However, the most popular belief is that the five men were after some hidden treasure in the hill between the Mengkalap CIQ station and the border of Temburong District of Brunei revealed to one of them in a dream.
Claims that they had hired an Indonesian shaman to guide them in their search lent credence to story of hidden treasure in the hill.
The police have not dismissed the presence of the Indonesian spiritual guide in the alleged treasure hunt and are looking for him.
If he really existed the chances of the police nabbing him are slim as apparently he made a quick exit from the scene when the tragedy struck.
The three survivors who have returned home should be able to shed some light into the fatal misadventure but the police have not disclosed if they had interviewed them.
The bodies of the two brothers Raut Singa and Gelawat Gali in their 50’s who died in the tunnel are still in the mortuary awaiting post mortem while their family members were too distraught to talk about the incident.
Lawas OCPD DSP Fauzilan Abdul Aziz confirmed the tunnel closure to public when contacted yesterday, saying it was to prevent curious members of the public from falling into it.
“We are investigating the case from all angles, including the motive of the tunnel construction,” he said.
He advised the local people not to jump into any conclusion and spread rumours on the incident especially in the social-media.
Meanwhile the Public Works Department engineer here, Norman Jan said poor ventilation could have resulted in a buildup of fumes from the water pump lowered into
the tunnel which apparently caused the death of the two men.