2nd LD Writethru: Malaysia deploys divers to search for missing crew from capsized sand dredger

MUAR, Malaysia, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Divers have entered the sand dredger that capsized in the waters off Malaysia in the Malacca Strait to search for the missing crew members, officials said Thursday.

Abu Bakar Bin Idris of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), the country's coast guard, said the vessel had been towed to a shallow water area three nautical miles from the shore.

"The ship is very stable, we are conducting the searching operation and two divers are already in the ship," he told a press conference.

He said the search operations would continue at night as necessary equipment had been prepared. Rescuers were also pumping air into the ship.

Zulkifili Abu Bakar, MMEA's director general, said earlier that the 14 missing crew members were believed to be trapped inside the ship as knocking sound was heard.

The Malaysian navy have sent 23 divers and more than 100 personnel to join the search and rescue operations with personnel and divers from MMEA, marine police, firefighters and professional divers.

The Chinese Embassy in Malaysia said its officials had arrived at the search and rescue operation center to coordinate the efforts. Search and rescue personnel from China have also arrived in Malaysia and joined the operations.

Malaysia launched search and rescue operations after a sand dredging vessel capsized Wednesday in the waters off its southern Johor state, leaving at least one dead and 14 crew members missing.

Among the 16 Chinese crew members, one was dead, 12 were missing while three were rescued. A Malaysian and an Indonesian were also onboard, who were also missing. Enditem