Mersing district police chief Cyril Edward shows pictures of British man Adrian Peter Chesters and French woman Alexia Alexandra Molina, who were found safe after drifting at sea for two and a half days, during a news conference in Malaysia, 9 April 2022;
Credit: Reuters / Ebrahim Harris
MERSING, Malaysia (Reuters) - A French woman and British man who disappeared while diving off the coast of Malaysia were found safe on Saturday 9 April 2022, drifting at sea two and a half days after they went missing, police said.
Four people went missing on Wednesday 6 April 2022 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 7 April 2022.
Fishermen spotted Alexia Alexandra Molina, 18, from France, and Briton Adrian Peter Chesters, 46, at around 01:00 (18:00 CET on Friday 8 April 2022) 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, Mr Nuing said.
Kristine 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.
