The sailors were rescued 50 hours after the dredger capsized

Two Chinese sailors have been rescued more than 50 hours after their sand dredger capsized off Malaysia's southern coast.

Divers heard knocking sounds and found the two sailors in the ship's engine room on Friday.

Coastguard official Sanifah Yusof said they were trapped in an air pocket that had kept them alive after the vessel overturned on Wednesday.

He said they were weak and dehydrated and are now being treated in hospital.

The rescue has fuelled hopes that others may still be alive and Mr Sanifah said that air is being pumped into the ship to help anyone who may still be in there.

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Image: A team of divers joined the rescue efforts

Four people are known to have died and nine others are still missing after the dredger went down near the state of Johor.

Rescue teams discovered a body floating near the vessel on Saturday, and two more inside the ship.

A team of Chinese divers joined the search operation and rescue efforts had been intensified.

The submerged vessel has been moved closer to shore and stabilised to stop it from sinking.</s>2 Chinese rescued more than 50 hours after dredger capsized

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Two Chinese sailors have been rescued more than 50 hours after their sand dredger capsized off Malaysia's southern coast, a maritime official said Saturday.

Three more bodies were also discovered, leaving nine others still missing.

Divers heard knocking sounds and found the two sailors in the ship's engine room on Friday, apparently trapped in an air pocket that had kept them alive after the vessel overturned on Wednesday, said coast guard official Sanifah Yusof.

They were weak and dehydrated and have been hospitalized, he said.

Their rescue raised hopes there may be others still alive, he said, adding that air is being pumped into the ship to help possible survivors.

Sanifah said rescuers also discovered a body floating near the vessel and two more, including a woman inside the ship, on Saturday. He said this brought the death toll to four and left nine others, including a Malaysian and an Indonesian, unaccounted for.

Sanifah said a team of Chinese divers had joined the search operation and that rescue efforts had been intensified.

He said the submerged vessel was moved closer to shore and stabilized to prevent it from sinking.</s>Two Chinese sailors have been rescued more than 50 hours after their sand dredger capsized off Malaysia's southern coast.

Divers heard knocking sounds and found the two sailors in the ship's engine room on Friday.

Coastguard official Sanifah Yusof said they were trapped in an air pocket that had kept them alive after the vessel overturned on Wednesday.

He said they were weak and dehydrated and are now being treated in hospital.

Aerial photo provided by Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency shows the capsized sand dredger in the waters off southern Malaysian state of Johor, 22-03-2018. Image: MMEA/Xinhua News Agency/PA Images

The rescue has fuelled hopes that others may still be alive and Mr Sanifah said that air is being pumped into the ship to help anyone who may still be in there.

Four people are known to have died and nine others are still missing after the dredger went down near the state of Johor.

Rescue teams discovered a body floating near the vessel on Saturday, and two more inside the ship.

A team of Chinese divers joined the search operation and rescue efforts have been intensified.

The submerged vessel has been moved closer to shore and stabilised to stop it from sinking.</s>KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - An official says two Chinese sailors have been rescued more than 50 hours after their sand dredger capsized off Malaysia's southern coast.

Three more bodies were also discovered, leaving nine others still missing.

Coast guard official Sanifah Yusof says divers found the two sailors in the ship's engine room on Friday, apparently trapped in an air bubble that had kept them alive after the vessel overturned on Wednesday.

In This Friday, March 23, 2018, photo, a rescue team carries an unidentified Chinese national who was rescued from a capsized sand-dredging vessel in Parit Jawa, Muar, Malaysia. The Chinese sand-dredger had capsized off the country's southern coast Wednesday, killing a crew member and leaving over a dozen others missing. (AP Photo/Chong)

Sanifah says rescuers also discovered a body floating near the vessel and two more, including a woman inside the ship, on Saturday. He says this brought the death toll to four and left nine others, including a Malaysian and an Indonesian, unaccounted for.</s>KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — An official says two Chinese sailors have been rescued more than 50 hours after their sand dredger capsized off Malaysia’s southern coast.

Three more bodies were also discovered, leaving nine others still missing.

Coast guard official Sanifah Yusof says divers found the two sailors in the ship’s engine room on Friday, apparently trapped in an air bubble that had kept them alive after the vessel overturned on Wednesday.

Sanifah says rescuers also discovered a body floating near the vessel and two more, including a woman inside the ship, on Saturday. He says this brought the death toll to four and left nine others, including a Malaysian and an Indonesian, unaccounted for.</s>Two Chinese sailors were rescued alive Friday from the engine room of a sand dredger two days after the vessel capsized off Malaysia, while 12 others remain missing, an official said.

[KUALA LUMPUR] Two Chinese sailors were rescued alive Friday from the engine room of a sand dredger two days after the vessel capsized off Malaysia, while 12 others remain missing, an official said.

The rescued crew were "conscious but weak", said coastguard official Sanifah Yusof, after being trapped in the JBB Rong Chang 8 since it overturned Wednesday.

Twelve other sailors - 10 Chinese, one Malaysian and one Indonesian - remain missing.

One Chinese sailor was killed and three others were rescued alive when the Chinese-owned boat first flipped over.

The boat had stayed afloat despite capsizing and hopes were raised that some of the missing had survived after divers heard sounds from inside the hull.

Divers rescued the two Chinese sailors on Friday afternoon, said Mr Sanifah.

"We found two victims who are alive, they are Chinese citizens, and they were taken to Muar hospital," he told AFP. Muar is a coastal town close to where the accident happened.

"We still have hope that everybody is alive," he said, adding the rescue operation would continue into the evening.

It was not clear what caused the accident and the weather in the area was fine at the time.

Dredging sand from coastal areas is a booming and lucrative business. The sand is shipped to wealthy land-scarce areas such as Singapore for reclamation and construction work.

But environmentalists have long argued that the practice damages local communities and ecosystems.

Last year two foreign vessels manned by Chinese crew were seized off Malaysia's west coast for allegedly conducting illegal sand-dredging.</s>The multi-agency search and rescue team brings in one of the two survivors of the capsized JBB Rong Chang 8 sand dredger to shore at the Pantai Leka fishing jetty in Parit Jawa, Muar March 23, 2018. ― Picture courtesy of MMEAMUAR, March 23 ― The multi-agency search and rescue (SAR) team found two survivors from the capsized sand dredger off Tanjung Tohor near here this afternoon.

The injured victims, both Chinese nationals, were rescued by SAR divers from the capsized Chinese JBB Rong Chang 8 sand dredger, about 12 nautical miles from Tanjung Tohor.

Muar Fire and Rescue Department chief Marzuki Ismail said the first victim arrived at the Pantai Leka fishing jetty in Parit Jawa at 3.34pm, followed by another at 4pm.

“The first survivor has been identified as Liu Kongsan, 47, while the other is Liang Fu Zen, 62.

“Both the survivors were handed over to the medical authorities and were sent to the Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital here for treatment,” he told Malay Mail.

At press time, there was still no information on the condition of the survivors.

The SAR operation, led by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), is still ongoing for the 12 other missing male crew members, who are feared to have drowned.

The SAR team has requested lighting support for the evening segment of the ongoing operation.

Yesterday, Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) and private company divers while searching for the missing crewmen overnight had heard knocking sounds from inside the vessel, JBB Rong Chang 8, about 12 nautical miles from Tanjung Tohor.

On Wednesday, the SAR team found one dead crewman and rescued three others who were injured following the capsizing of the vessel that had 18 crewmen, one of them a Malaysian and 17 foreigners, on board.

The victims were earlier on board a marine sand dredge before it capsized at 8.50am on the same day.

The Chinese-owned JBB Rong Chang 8 is a Dominican-registered marine sand dredger measuring at 86 metres-long, with a 6,200 gross tonnage. The hopper-designed marine dredger was commissioned in 2016.</s>Malaysia, China, Australia to discuss next step in search for Flight MH370

Christoph Mueller, CEO of Malaysia Airlines, speaks during a panel discussion at the 2015 International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit in Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. June 8, 2015. Photo by Reuters/Joe Skipper/File Photo

Flight MH370, carrying 239 passengers and crew, disappeared on March 8, 2014 enroute from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A wing part, known as a flaperon, washed up on the French island of Reunion in July 2015.

An underwater search operation for the aircraft, which disappeared two years ago, is underway, spanning 120,000 square kilometers of the southern Indian Ocean.

According to Bernama, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the meeting would focus what to do once the search of the designated area is completed.

"We (Australia, China and Malaysia) will not call off the search. We are committed to completing the 120,000 sq km search - so far, we have completed 107,000 sq km.

"We will make an announcement on the way forward," Liow was quoted as saying.

The search, which was originally scheduled to end in June, had been hampered by bad weather and will resume in October, he added.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau had previously said the three countries had agreed not to extend the search beyond 120,000 sq km.

> Australia to study three new pieces of debris for link to missing MH370
Two men are rescued from a capsized dredger off Malaysia after 50 hours in an air pocket in the engine room. The death toll so far is nine, with rescue efforts underway to search for more survivors.