THE strong earthquake that jolted Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu killed 13 people with another six missing on South-East Asia's highest peak.

"There are 13 bodies. Two yesterday and 11 today. We've got six people still missing. I cannot confirm with you where they are from," Mohammad Farhan Lee Abdullah, police chief of the town of Ranau near the mountain, said.

Sabah state's tourism minister Masidi Manjun said rescuers brought 137 hikers, including two Australians, down to safety after an earthquake had stranded them atop Mount Kinabalu on Friday.

Escaping Mount Kinabalu

Australian climber Vee Jin Dumlao was atop Malaysia's Mount Kinabalu when a magnitude-6.0 earthquake hit. When her group was left stranded by rescue officers, they decided to make the perilous journey down themselves.
"Police forensic team have arrived to assist," Mr Masidi tweeted.

But Australian climber Vee Jin Dumlao, who is now safe after being stranded on Kinabalu, refuted the minister's claims, labelling the rescue effort "a farce".

Read more at ABC News Online