SINGAPORE: The Singaporean among the six scuba
divers who went missing after diving off Tioman Island on
Malaysia's east coast on Saturday has been
rescued.
He is said to be Mr Hu Jinjie.
Mr Hu and five other divers, one Chinese national
and four Malaysians, were picked up by a passing tugboat.
The group of seven, aged between 25 and 33, disappeared after going
diving off the island. The seventh member of the group resurfaced
immediately and raised the alarm.
An AFP report quoted a Malaysian official as saying all are safe
and are back on Tioman island.
The captain of the tugboat, Kencana Makmur 1, sent a report to a
Malaysian shipping company Lunar Shipping at 10.49am on Sunday to
inform it of the rescue.
Lunar Shipping's manager Peter Loo alerted MediaCorp of the rescue
after reading about the missing scuba divers on Channel NewsAsia's
iPad app.
Mr Loo said the six were handed over to the Malaysian marine police
at 2pm.
Mr Loo said: "They were diving at 12.30pm on Saturday. They were
supposed to dive for one hour. One hour later, they didn't
resurface. The boatman couldn't find them. The search and rescue
started thereafter, until today our boat found them."
Malaysia's east coast islands, famed for their corals and marine
life, are a popular dive destination and accidents are rare.
- CNA/AFP/ck