* Four-day Muslim gathering attended by 16,000 people
* Hundreds of coronavirus cases among attendees
* Malaysia shuts its borders to contain outbreak
* Cases from mosque event have spread across SE Asia
By A. Ananthalakshmi and Joseph Sipalan
KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 (Reuters) - Worshippers slept in
packed tents outside the golden-domed mosque, waking before dawn
to kneel on rows of prayer mats laid out in its cavernous
central hall. All the while, the coronavirus was passing
unnoticed among the guests.
The Muslim gathering held at the end of last month at a
sprawling mosque complex on the outskirts of Malaysia's capital
Kuala Lumpur has emerged as a source of hundreds of new
coronavirus infections spanning Southeast Asia.
A 34-year-old Malaysian man who attended the event died on
Tuesday, Malaysia's Minister of Health Adham Baba said, the
first death linked to the Feb. 27-March 1 event at the Sri
Petaling mosque compound.
It was attended by 16,000 people, including 1,500
foreigners.
Out of Malaysia's 673 confirmed coronavirus cases, nearly
two-thirds are linked to the four-day meeting, Adham said. It is
not clear who brought the virus there in the first place.
Reuters spoke to six attendees and reviewed pictures and
posts on social media, and the accounts and evidence showed
several ways in which the outbreak could have spread.
The hosts, the Islamic missionary movement Tablighi Jama'at,
which traces its roots back to India a century ago, on Monday
suspended missionary activities but did not comment directly on
the Malaysian event.
Tablighi Jama'at did not respond to a request for further
comment. The mosque where the event was held was closed on
Tuesday and a guest said he was one of dozens of worshippers
still there under quarantine. Calls to the mosque went
unanswered.
Malaysia plans to shut its borders, restrict internal
movement and close schools, universities and most businesses, as
it seeks to control its coronavirus outbreak. All mosques will
be closed for two weeks. "I was very surprised actually that it went ahead," said
Surachet Wae-asae, a former Thai lawmaker who attended the event
but has since tested negative for the coronavirus after
returning home.
"But in Malaysia God is very important. The belief is
strong."
The prime minister's office and the health ministry declined
to comment further about the event.
HOLDING HANDS, SHARING PLATES
The packed gathering, where guests had to take shuttle buses
to sleep at other venues, was attended by nationals from dozens
of countries, including Canada, Nigeria, India and Australia,
according to an attendee list posted on social media.
There were also citizens of China and South Korea - two
countries with high rates of coronavirus infections.
Social media posts show hundreds of worshippers praying
shoulder-to-shoulder inside the mosque, while some guests posted
selfies as they shared food.
It was not clear how many guests were residents of Malaysia,
but cases linked to the gathering are popping up daily across
Southeast Asia.
"We sat close to each other," a 30-year-old Cambodian man
who attended the event told Reuters from a hospital in
Cambodia's Battambang province, where he was being treated after
testing positive for the coronavirus on Monday.
"Holding hands at the religious ceremony was done with
people of many countries. When I met people, I held hands, it
was normal. I don't know who I was infected by," he said, asking
not to be named due to fears of discrimination at his mosque.
None of the event leaders talked about washing hands, the
coronavirus or health precautions during the event, but most
guests washed their hands regularly, two guests said. Washing
hands among other parts of the body is part of Muslim worship.
Another attendee from Cambodia said guests from different
countries shared plates when meals were served.
Only half of the Malaysian participants who attended have
come forward for testing, the health minister has said, raising
fears that the outbreak from the mosque could be more
far-reaching.
Brunei has confirmed 50 cases linked to the mosque
gathering, out of a total of 56 cases. Singapore has announced
five linked to the event, Cambodia 13 and Thailand at least two.
Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia, which had nearly 700
of its citizens attend, are all investigating.
That a large religious pilgrimage should have gone ahead, at
a time when the epidemic had killed 2,700 people and was
spreading from Italy to Iran, has drawn criticism.
More than 182,000 people have now been infected by the
coronavirus globally and 7,165 have died. "That Tablighi event in KL (Kuala Lumpur) ... could also
cause a regional spike and it was irresponsible for the
authorities to have allowed it to be held," Singapore diplomat
Bilahari Kausikan said on his Facebook page.
It is not the only religious event to spread the virus on a
mass scale. Thousands of cases in South Korea are linked to
services of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in the city of
Daegu.
At the time of the event in Malaysia, the country was in
political turmoil. The country had a one-man government in the
94-year-old interim prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who had
quit and was temporarily re-appointed the same day.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as the new
premier on March 1 and banned mass gatherings on March 13. Prior
to that, there was only advice from the health ministry to
minimise public exposure.
Some attendees defended the event, saying that at the time
the situation in Malaysia - which had announced 25 known cases
by Feb. 28 - was not severe.
"We were not worried then as the COVID-19 situation at the
time appeared under control," said Khuzaifah Kamazlan, a
34-year-old religious teacher based in Kuala Lumpur who attended
the event but has tested negative for the coronavirus.
Khuzaifah said some of the worshippers who attended the
event have since refused to be tested for coronavirus,
preferring to rely on God to protect them.
Karim, a 44-year-old Malaysian who attended the gathering
and was later tested positive for coronavirus, says the
government should have cancelled the event.
"We are a bit disappointed that this outbreak has been
blamed entirely on us. That view is unfair. There was no ban on
our gathering," said Karim, who gave only his first name.
"Now I am concerned because I am positive. Please pray for
me."