Two Canadian siblings have been barred from leaving Malaysia after being blamed for an earthquake that struck Mount Kinabalu, in Malaysia Borneo, on Friday.

According to Malaysian police reports, Lindsey Petersen, 23, and Danielle Petersen, 22, are two of five tourists who have been identified as disrespecting the mountain, considered a sacred place in the indigenous culture of Sabah.

According to a Malaysian news outlet, rescuers recovered the bodies of 19 climbers from the 4,095-metre peak after it was struck, six days after the errant tourists’ visit, by a magnitude 5.9 quake that sent rocks and boulders raining down on trekking routes, trapping dozens of climbers. Nationalities of those killed have not yet been released.

Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan, of the eastern Sabah state, blamed the earthquake on the group that included the Canadians because they “showed disrespect to the sacred mountain” by stripping down to pose naked on the morning of May 30, at the 8 km mark of the two-day trek up Mount Kinabalu, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Ten tourists undressed and took photos, which was reported by their protesting guide, according to police. Only five have been identified by name so far.

According to police they are Canadian brother and sister Lindsey Petersen and Danielle Petersen, two Dutch citizens named Eleanor Hawrins and Dylan Thomas, and a German citizen named Stephan Pohlner.

Nicolas Doire, a spokesperson for the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed to the Star that they are aware of reports that two Canadians have been barred from leaving Malaysia. He said the Canadian High Commission in Malaysia‎ is prepared to provide consular services as needed.

Due to privacy issues, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to release the travellers’ names or any additional information.

When the Star reached the siblings’ father, Floyd Petersen, in Wood Mountain, Sask., south of Moose Jaw, by phone on Saturday, he was unaware of their current situation. Petersen said he had not spoken to either of his children for a couple of days. They typically only phone home periodically, he said.

He did confirm, however, that they were travelling together in Malaysia and weren’t due to return to Canada for a couple of weeks. He did not know who they were traveling with.

Mount Kinabalu, the country’s highest mountain, is considered a sacred site by the indigenous people of the area. It is believed that Mount Kinabalu is where spirits reside after people have passed away.

“When the earthquake occurred it can be taken as confirmation of what the consequences would be when these people decided to bare it all on top of the mountain. We cannot play around with the spirits on our sacred mountain,” the Huguan Siou (paramount leader of the Kadazan-Dusun Murut people), Tan Sri Pairin Kitingan, told the Borneo Post.

A ceremony is planned to appease the spirits of Mount Kinabalu after Saturday’s earthquake. Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun told the Borneo Post that the government had yet to decide on the date of the appeasement ceremony.

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“Our priority now is on the search and rescue of the missing climbers. But it will be an inter-faith ceremony,” he said.

With files from Simone Lai and Associated Press