1 dead, 14 missing after sand mining ship capsizes off Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR - A sand mining vessel capsized Wednesday in the waters off Malaysia in the Malacca Strait, leaving at least one dead and 14 crew members missing, said the Malaysian coast guard.

There were 18 crew members on the vessel, including one Malaysian, one Indonesian and 16 Chinese citizens. Three have been rescued, one was found dead and 14 remained missing, according to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).

The Chinese embassy in Malaysia confirmed to Xinhua that among the 16 Chinese crew members, three were rescued, one was dead and 12 remained missing.

Zulkifili Abu Bakar, chief of MMEA, said the search and rescue is ongoing with assets from his agency as well as the Malaysian marine police.

The vessel, JBB RONG CHANG 8, carrying a Dominican flag, capsized 8.5 nautical miles off Parit Jawa in southern Malaysian state of Johor.

MMEA received a distress call at around 8:50 am local time (0050 GMT) and launched a search-and-rescue mission afterwards.