M'sians List Out Reasons Why Pics Of Daredevil Couple On Top Of Merdeka 118 Could Be Fake
A sharp-eyed netizen said the colours of the shoes are different in two of the three photos.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 28 Dec 2022, 12:42 PM
Malaysians are discussing whether recently surfaced photos of a daredevil couple on top of Merdeka 118 are real after finding several aspects of the photos to be peculiar
According to New Straits Times, the fearless climbers are reportedly Russian couple Ivan Beerkus and Angela Nikolau.
Over the past two days, they posted photos of them posing with Kuala Lumpur skylines on Instagram.
The photos of them on the world's second-tallest building were first uploaded to a website called Skyscraper City by a user named "Beerkus" on Monday night, 26 December.
Following that, the photos were re-uploaded to Malaysia's subreddit, with many netizens questioning the security of the 678.9m-tall tower.
"Congrats to the security team," a Reddit user said sarcastically, while another added, "So police no arrest yet? (sic)"
However, some sharp-eyed Malaysians found something was amiss about the photos.
Exhibit 1: the colours of the shoes
"You're telling me he changed his shoes from the third picture to the second picture? Or did the girl change her pants?" acutely questioned a Reddit user.
A close inspection of the first photo found that the supposed Nikolau is wearing a red outfit and a pair of white shoes, while the supposed Beerkus is fully dressed in black, including his shoes.
But the third photo shows an unidentified person in black pants wearing a pair of white shoes while climbing what seems to be the ladder of the spire.
It is difficult to discern whether the person in the photo is Nikolau or Beerkus, and it is uncertain whether either of them changed their pants or shoes.
Exhibit 2: the scale of Beerkus and Nikolau in comparison to the building looks off
"Why does the size of the people look off? It's not photoshopped, right?" asked another Reddit user, to which a person replied, "That's the spire, lol."
One user also said, "LOL. Is this for real? Looked superimposed."
"[The pictures] looked all too casual and free, and [I] doubt they'd have got clearance or breached security."
Beerkus and Nikolau have not posted photos of themselves on Merdeka 118 on their official Instagram accounts
SAYS did not immediately receive a response after reaching out to both of them, while New Straits Times is checking with the police if an investigation will be launched following the incident.
With that said, Beerkus had on Tuesday, 27 December, said in an Instagram post that Merdeka 118 is a height that is "absolutely unattainable".
"I heard many stories about trying to climb this building illegally. The saddest ones ended [up in] prison for several months. There are many closed doors and CCTV cameras inside the building, which makes it the most desirable building in the world."
A day prior, he described Petronas Twin Towers as "one of the most beautiful high-rise buildings on the planet", but "now they are not my goal".
Meanwhile, on the Skyscraper City website, the user with the name "Beerkus" answered a question from a netizen.
"Was there space for an observatory in there on the way up?" asked a person, to which he replied, "I think yes. 115th floor and 116th have a very large space. And there are escalators between 115th and 116th."
Beerkus and Nikolau boast over 204,000 and 704,000 followers on Instagram, respectively. They often post photos of them kissing or doing dangerous stunts on top of buildings around the world.
They have scaled skyscrapers in Hong Kong, China, Russia, Thailand, and France.
