KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 — The police have clarified that foreigners occupying an abandoned school building in Taman Desa here are actually construction workers from a nearby building site.

Brickfields district police chief ACP Amihizam Abdul Shukor also said an investigating officer sent to check the building confirmed that it has been vacated and not no longer inhabited.

"Our initial investigation showed that about 50 workers at the site used the building as their shelter and they were found to have trespassed through a fence behind the building that was dismantled.

"We have also contacted and advised the construction site management to tell their workers not to stay in the abandoned school building,” he said in a statement tonight.

Last Friday, local media reported that more than 50 foreigners were using the old school building as a shelter after claiming that their employer failed to provide them with proper accommodation.

According to Amihizam, police will continue to monitor the situation from time to time to ensure such incidents do not recur.

He also said an investigation was carried out following a police report that they received this morning about the matter.

It is understood that the Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Danau Perdana building has been abandoned since 2005 due to structural problems brought about by a sinking soil problem. — Bernama