MERSING (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Four foreigners have been reported missing after they went for a scuba diving exercise near Pulau Tokong Sanggol in Mersing, nine nautical miles from the Malaysian mainland.

Johor Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director First Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria said the Johor Baru Maritime Rescue Sub Centre received information about the matter through the Putrajaya Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre at 2.35pm on Wednesday (April 6).

"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 missing four are two British men and two women, a French and a Norwegian, between the ages of 14 and 46," he said in a statement here.

First Adm Nurul Hizam added that the authorities had launched a search and rescue mission to locate the missing divers over an area of 21.45 square nautical miles.

He said the MMEA, together with the marine police and Fisheries Department, had deployed their respective assets to locate the divers as soon as possible.