MERSING, Malaysia, April 9 (Reuters) – A Frenchwoman and Briton who went missing while diving off the coast of Malaysia were found safe on Saturday after drifting about 100km (80 miles) for two days. and a half after he disappeared, police said.
The search for another diver who went missing at the same time, the British’s 14-year-old son, has been extended to Indonesian waters, they said.
Alexia Alexandra Molina, 18, of France, and Britain’s Adrian Peter Chesters, 46, were in a group of four who went missing Wednesday afternoon on a training dive near Tokong Sangol, a small island off the southeastern town of Mersing.
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The group’s instructor, Kristin Grodem, 35, from Norway, was rescued on Thursday. Read more
Fishermen spotted Molina and Chesters around 1 a.m. (17:00 GMT on Friday) off the Indonesian island of Bintan, southeast of Singapore and about 100km south of where they went missing, officials said.
“They are in stable condition and under surveillance, but they are not ready to be interviewed. We will do this as soon as they are ready,” Mersing District Police Chief Cyril Edward Nuing told reporters.
He said Indonesian authorities would take over the search for Chesters’ 14-year-old son, Dutch national Nathan Renze Chesters, as he may have dived into their waters.
“We believe it is very likely that he is no longer in Malaysian waters due to the movement of sea currents, as well as the time and place where the other victims were found,” he said.
Malaysian assets will be on hand to help, he said.
Earlier, Grodem told officials that the group had surfaced about an hour after diving Wednesday, but could not find its boat.
She was later separated from the others after being caught by a strong current.
The boat operator who took them to the dive site was detained after a positive drug test, police said.
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Report by Rosana Latif and Ebrahim Harris; Edited by Robert Birsel
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