One Indian sailor feared dead in tanker fire off Malaysia

An Indian sailor was feared dead while 22 others were rescued from a burning but empty Indian-owned oil tanker off the Malaysian coast on Monday.

MT Samudera's engine room caught fire at 2.40pm (local time) off the coast of Pulau Kukup in JohorState but the Southern region Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency was only alerted of the situation at 4.40pm, a maritime official said.

One person who was missing was feared dead and the fire was brought under control after some hours, MMEA official Admiral Adon Shalan said.

"The whole group was rescued and brought to the marine police jetty in Kukup at around 10.05 pm. Two crewmen who sustained burns were being treated for their injuries," he said.

"The MT Samudra usually carries oil but we were informed by the crew that it was empty when the fire broke out," he was quoted as saying by Star newspaper.

MT Samudera was heading to Chittagong port in Bangladesh from the Indonesian island of Batam when the fire broke out.