TAWAU, April 3 (Bernama) --   A local radio station presenter here, has come forward to own up his mistake in broadcasting the Maghrib azan (call to prayer) for the district, four minutes ahead of the actual time.

In a post in his Facebook page, Mohd Safwan Junit said a technical error had resulted in the Maghrib  call to prayer to be broadcast twice at 6.16 pm and 6.20 pm. 

The azan for Maghrib prayer also signals the time to break fast. 

“I, as the presenter on duty this evening for the ‘Syoknya Hujung Minggu segment was responsible for the technical error when the Maghrib azan was broadcast twice, the first at 6.16 pm and the second at 6.20 pm.

"The azan was supposed to be broadcast at 6.20pm and when it was played and heard much earlier, several Tawau residents had unintentionally broke their fast before time, " he said while offering his humble apologies to all those affected.

Today marks the first day of Ramadan for Muslims in Malaysia. 

Meanwhile, Sabah Special Tasks Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif when contacted said for further information on the validity of the fast,  the matter should be referred to Sabah Mufti Datuk Bungsu Jaafar but as of press time, there was no further comments from Bungsu.

-- BERNAMA