KUALA LUMPUR – Controversial Russian climber Ivan Beerkus has told Malaysian authorities to stop their search operations for him and his partner Angela Nikolau as both of them are no longer in the country.
Taking to Instagram, he said that both he and Nikolau had left the country following their success in scaling Merdeka 118.
“Don’t waste the country’s budget on searches in Malaysia. We are no longer there,” wrote Beerkus.
He also said that both of them had entered the country legally, despite contradicting reports that emerged claiming that the Immigration Department has no records of them entering and leaving the country.
The department is currently investigating whether the duo had entered Malaysia legally.
The couple’s picture at the top Merdeka 118 was uploaded on the online forum SkyscraperCity.com on December 27.
The Russian daredevils confirmed their stunt two days later through Instagram posts featuring them standing on the peak of the tower’s spire, which is the second-tallest tower in the world behind the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Nikolau, in an earlier interview with The Vibes, said that the climb was “the hardest elevation so far and also one of the hardest things” she has done.
The 29-year-old seasoned rooftopper also apologised to Malaysians after her sharing on Twitter on her success in scaling the tower with Beerkus received backlash from local netizens. – The Vibes, January 10, 2023