Malaysian authorities call off search for diver after 3 others rescued
(Update 1: updates with authorities calling off search)
Bangkok, Apr 9 (EFE).- Malaysian authorities on Saturday called off the search for the last foreign tourist missing since Wednesday after being swept away during a diving trip, after three other divers of the group were rescued.
The Malaysian coast guard in a statement identified the last missing diver as British citizen Nathen Renze Chesters, aged 14, and said that he may have drifted into the territorial waters of Indonesia and that authorities of the neighboring country had been alerted, so that they can continue with the search.
The decision came at noon on Saturday, after two other tourists, Frenchman Alexia Alexandra Molina, 18 and Nathen’s father Adrian Peter Chesters, 46, were rescued off the coast of Mersing in the southern state of Johor after spending more than 60 hours at sea.
The two were found by a fishing boat near the border with Indonesia and later sent to a hospital, but appeared in good health.
The Malaysian authorities had launched an extensive search operation for the missing tourists.
The searchers on Thursday rescued a Norwegian diving instructor, Kristine Grodem, 35.
Two helicopters and more than a dozen boats combed the waters off the coast of Johor, in the south of the Malacca peninsula, where the group disappeared Wednesday noon while diving off the southern coast of Mersing Island.
State-run Bernama news agency reported that 90 members and officers from various agencies, including 30 divers, were mobilized for the search and rescue operation.
Grodem said they were swept away by currents before being rescued about 22 nautical miles (more than 40 km) from the diving site. EFE
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