KOTA KINABALU, MALAYSIA - A Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) student was abducted, assaulted and raped in a 10-hour overnight terror ride from the city here to interior Tambunan.

The ordeal of the 21-year-old girl from Sibu, Sarawak sent shockwaves among Sabahans and particularly UMS students staying in nearby Kingfisher from where she was abducted at about 7pm on Tuesday.

The student had just been dropped off by friends near a supermarket when two men in a blue Kancil grabbed and bundled her into the vehicle.

One of her friends saw the incident and jotted down the licence plate number as the vehicle sped away. The police were notified and immediately an alert was issued to police in surrounding districts.

There were no signs of the Kancil until about 4am on Wednesday when a police mobile patrol vehicle spotted it some 100km away along the Tambunan-Keningau road.

A 16-mile chase ensued as the Kancil headed in the direction of Kota Kinabalu.

As the chase neared Kampung Rompon, police fired several shots at the rear tyres of the abductors? vehicle, which overturned and plunged down a roadside slope.

Two men were seen fleeing the vehicle and one of the policemen spotted the terrified sobbing girl, with bruises on her face, huddled in the backseat of the car.

The police rescued her and rushed her to the nearest hospital in interior Keningau town about 60km away from Tambunan.

One of the two men suspected to have fled from the Kancil approached Kampung Rompon villagers for help at about 11am on Wednesday with bloodstains all over his body and a broken right arm.

While several villagers asked the man to wait, one of them ran to police who were still at the scene not far away to alert them to the injured man.

Police followed the villager back and promptly arrested the 23-year-old man from the northern Kota Belud district and mounted an immediate manhunt involving the police air wing and dog units.

The final suspect they are looking for is believed to be a 34-year-old man from Membakut district in the west coast of Sabah.