Vilimale, Kaafu Atoll, Maldives: An Indian citizen has gone missing after accidentally falling into the sea from a cargo ship close to the Maldives, media sources reported on Tuesday.

The incident took place on Monday when a crew member aboard the Indian-registered vessel MSV Daulah fell overboard approximately one kilometre north of Vilimale, according to the news portal sun.mv.

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) confirmed that it received a report of the accident around 11:35 pm. The Coast Guard’s Second Squadron, operating under the Male’ Area Command, promptly launched a search and rescue mission.

By 7:22 am local time on Tuesday, roughly eight hours after the individual went overboard, both aerial and maritime search operations had not yet located the missing crew member, MNDF officials told the media.