British, French divers rescued in Malaysia after more than two days at sea

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) officers search for the missing divers during the search and rescue operation off the Mersing coast, Johor, Malaysia, April 8, 2022. Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency/Handout via REUTERS

MERSING, Malaysia, April 9 (Reuters) – A French woman and British man who disappeared while diving off the coast of Malaysia were found safe on Saturday, drifting at sea two and a half days after they went missing, police said.

Four people went missing on Wednesday at around noon on a training dive near Tokong Sanggol, a small island off the southeastern town of Mersing.

The group’s instructor, Kristine Grodem, 35, from Norway, was rescued on Thursday. read more

Fishermen spotted Alexia Alexandra Molina, 18, from France, and Briton Adrian Peter Chesters, 46, at around 1 a.m. (1700 GMT on Friday) in waters off Pengerang, a considerable distance to the south of where they disappeared, Mersing district police chief Cyril Edward Nuing told reporters.

“Both individuals … are reported to be in stable condition,” he said, adding that marine police had taken them to hospital. He declined to provide more details of the rescue.

Rescuers were searching for Chesters’ 14-year-old son, Dutch citizen Nathan Renze Chesters, Nuing said.

Grodem told officials the group surfaced about an hour into their dive on Wednesday but could not find their boat.

She was later separated from the others after being caught in strong currents.

The boat operator who took them to the dive site was detained after testing positive for drugs, police said.

Reporting by Rozanna Latiff;
Editing by Robert Birsel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.