YouTubers who ascended Kuala Lumpur’s Merdeka 118 skyscraper detained and charged

A group of content creators in Malaysia who posted a video of themselves atop Kuala Lumpur’s Merdeka 118 skyscraper have been detained and charged, according to the building owners.

In a statement on Tuesday, building owners PNB Merdeka Ventures said that the incident took place on 1 May 2022 and that the group had been detained by the police and charged on the same day, reported The Strait Times.

“We wish to reiterate that stunts such as these are illegal and dangerous, and put at risk the safety of the trespassers and the hard-working personnel on site.

“As such, it is highly disconcerting that illegal acts that take place on our property are used for illicit commercial gain and popularity,” the statement said.

The group Driftershoots uploaded a video on their social media channels on 30 December in which they claimed to have photographed the second tallest building in the world.

Promoting their video on Twitter, the group wrote that they had made “a full length video of our time climbing and photographing the second tallest building in the world”.

The tweet also included a link to the seven-minute video which showed the members of the group, with their faces obscured, sneaking onto the site wearing clothing like that of construction workers.

The video description on YouTube said: “A while ago I and three other exploring friends made our way to Kuala Lumpur to climb and photograph Merdeka 118, The second tallest building in the world at 679 Meters tall.

“The journey was long and difficult and full of challenges. A number of attempts had already ended in prison time for certain individuals so we knew we were up against heavy odds.

“The trip ended successfully and it’s a gift to be ending the year showing the footage. This video is an artistic expression of freedom done in and for love, I do not encourage anybody to recreate the actions shown in this video.”

PNB Merdeka Venture added in their statement that the company would continue to upgrade its security measures as the building was still an active construction site where safety is a priority.