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Two British medical students stabbed to death in Borneo Two British medical students stabbed to death in Borneo
(about 3 hours later)
Two British students have been stabbed to death in a Malaysian part of the island of Borneo, following a row with local men in a bar. Two British medical students on a work placement at a hospital in Borneo have been stabbed to death in a street after a row in a bar.
The students were named by Newcastle University as Neil Dalton and Aidan Brunger, both aged 22. They were on a six-week placement with five other medical students. Neil Dalton, from Ambergate, Derbyshire, and Aidan Brunger, from Gillingham, Kent, were fourth-year medical students at Newcastle University.
The Foreign Office said: "We are aware of the deaths of two British nationals in Malaysia on 5 August and we are providing consular assistance to their families at this difficult time." The two, both aged 22, were killed in the Jalan Padungan district of Kuching, Sarawak – in the Malaysian part of the island – in the early hours. Local reports said they had been attacked when four local men followed them after an altercation in a bar over them making too much noise.
The incident happened in Kuching, Sarawak – one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. They were reported by thestar.com.my to have been found lying in a road with stab wounds in the chest and back. Dalton and Brunger were on a six-week placement with five other students at a hospital in the city and due to return to the UK on Friday.
Police said a quarrel had taken place between the students and local men after both parties were drinking at a pub. Four suspects have been arrested, the Malaysian news agency, Bernama, reported, and a knife and vehicle allegedly used in the incident recovered.
It was reported that when the students left the pub the suspects pursued them in a car and one got out and attacked the victims. Four suspects have been arrested. Initial investigations indicated the two students were drinking in a bar in the area, which is popular with tourists, when they got into an argument with the men, Sarawak deputy police commissioner Datuk Dr Chai Khin Chung told a media conference on the island.
The Malaysian state news agency, Bernama, reported that the attack happened at 4.15am in the Jalan Padungan area of the city of Kuching in Sarawak province. The students left, but were reportedly followed by car and attacked by one of the four, Bernama reported. Police, alerted by a local restaurant worker who allegedly witnessed the attack, discovered the bodies at 4.15am lying two metres apart. One had suffered four stab wounds in the chest and back, and the other a single wound to the chest, it was reported.
Sarawak's deputy police commissioner, Datuk Dr Chai Khin Chung, told the agency the fight broke out after an argument in a bar over the students being too noisy. He said the Britons had been due to finish their training at the local hospital on Friday and that four suspects were in custody. Three suspects were arrested at 6am, and the fourth at 4.45pm local time. A knife and Perodua Viva car, allegedly used in the incident, were recovered.
Professor Tony Stevenson, Newcastle University's acting vice-chancellor, said: "We were informed this morning of the very sad news that two of our fourth year medical students working at a hospital in Kuching, Borneo, have been tragically killed. Professor Tony Stevenson, Newcastle university's acting vice-chancellor, said: "Neil Dalton and Aidan Brunger, both 22, were on a six-week work placement, along with five other medical students, to put the skills they had learnt during their time here at the university into practice.
"Neil Dalton and Aidan Brunger, both 22, were on a six-week work placement along with five other medical students to put the skills they had learnt during their time here at the university into practice. This has come as a huge shock to us all and our thoughts are with their families and friends at this very difficult time. "This has come as a huge shock to us all and our thoughts are with their families and friends at this very difficult time.
"Two of our members of staff are flying out to Kuching as soon as possible and we are working closely with the British high commissioner to support the other students and to coordinate their return to the UK." "Two of our members of staff are flying out to Kuching as soon as possible and we are working closely with the British high commissioner to support the other students and to co-ordinate their return to the UK."
Professor Jane Calvert, the medical school's dean of undergraduate studies, said: "They were doing what thousands of medical students do every year; they were on an elective to experience clinical practice in a different setting, to learn from that and enhance their practice when they came back."
"They were excellent students; they were doing really well with their studies, they were highly committed and coming back next year to work as doctors.
"Aidan was aspiring to do some medical research on his return, Neil was going straight into his final year and it's such a tragic thing to occur." Staff and students were "shocked and saddened".
Dalton, a former pupil at Belper School, where he achieved four A* A-levels, was a keen sportsman and a "vibrant and interested young man" his former head teacher Martyn Cooper told the Derby Telegraph. "Neil was always a fully engaged and promising student, whose decision to enter the medical profession was encouraged by Belper School".
He described Dalton as "a particularly able mathematician" who won several awards at school. "We are saddened to hear the terrible news of his death".
Brunger ran the Great North Run last September, raising nearly £400 for charity.
Andy Sallnow, head of events at Prostate Cancer UK, said: "Aidan ran the Great North Run for Prostate Cancer UK last year and he raised several hundred pounds for our work to beat prostate cancer. We are very saddened to hear news of his death in such devastating circumstances. Our sympathy goes out to all his family and friends."
Michael Smile, the adjunct professor of medicine at Sarawak general hospital, where the two were working, posted a message on social media offering condolences and warning other students to be careful when out at night.
If convicted of murder, the four suspects face the death sentence under Malaysian law.