KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (AP) – Two European divers were rescued by fishermen yesterday but a third, a 14-year-old Dutch, had died, four days after they disappeared off a southern Malaysian island and drifted some 100 kilometres, authorities said.
Alexia Alexandra Molina, 18, of France and Adrian Peter Chesters, 46, of Britain were found early yesterday in neighbouring Indonesian waters and taken to a hospital, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said. Chesters’ Dutch son, Nathen Renze Chesters, remained missing but Chesters told police that he had died because he was too weak, the agency said in a statement.
The agency said it notified Indonesian authorities to continue searching for the body. The search operation in Malaysia has been called off.
Molina and Chesters were found 30 kilometres north of Indonesia’s Bintan Island, which is about 100 kilometres from the location they were reported missing on Wednesday, according to Mersing police chief Cyril Edward Nuing.
The three were diving with their Norwegian instructor, Kristine Grodem, about 15 metres deep at an island off Mersing town in Malaysia’s southern Johor state. Grodem, 35, was rescued on Thursday by a tugboat. She said the four of them surfaced safely on Wednesday afternoon but later drifted away from the boat and were separated by a strong current. Grodem was training for the other three, who were seeking to obtain advanced diving licences, maritime officials said.
