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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Tim Hanlon

Brit dad found in Malaysia after days lost at sea with his teenage boy still missing

A Brit dad and a French woman who disappeared while diving off the coast of Malaysia were found safe on Saturday.

Adrian Peter Chesters, 46, was rescued after drifting at sea two and a half days after going missing, police said.

Rescuers were still searching for the Brit dad's 14-year-old son, Nathan Renze Chesters.

Mr Chesters has since said he believes his son has died.

He was found along with Alexia Alexandra Molina, 18, from France, by fishermen at around 1am local time on Saturday.

They were spotted 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.

Mr Nuing said that emergency services are still searching for Mr Chesters' 14-year-old son, Dutch citizen Nathan Renze Chesters.

Four people went missing on Wednesday at around noon on a training dive near Tokong Sanggol, a small island off the south eastern town of Mersing.

The group's instructor, Kristine Grodem, 35, from Norway, was rescued on Thursday.

Ms Groden was airlifted to hospital in a stable condition, having spent the night adrift in the sea.

She 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.

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency said the divers were reported missing around 2.35pm near Pulau Tokong Sanggol last Wednesday.

The search has been called off for the 14-year-old boy (AFP via Getty Images)

The site - in range of holiday resorts - is popular with divers.

Malaysia has seen an estimated 55,000 foreign visitors in just four days after opening its borders following the Covid pandemic.

First Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria, the agency’s director, said the captain had filed a report claiming he left the scene after the divers failed to surface at around noon.

He said after their disappearances: "The tekong (skipper) of a boat that ferried the four foreigners to the spot made a report about the divers not surfacing after holding a diving exercise at around noon.

The search effort has involved dozens of divers and boats (via REUTERS)

“The missing four are two British men and two women, a French and a Norwegian, between the ages of 14 and 46.

"A forward operating base has been set up at the Mersing District Council public jetty."

The search effort has involved dozens of divers and boats, covering over 100 nautical miles.

Local politician Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi had assured the families of those missing officials and searchers are doing "whatever we can to find them".

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