Some 200 crew o­n a Malaysian navy ship have been placed under quarantine following the death of a crew member with suspected Sars symptoms two days ago, the Health Ministry said today.

Ten people have been hospitalised and the rest quarantined o­n board the Royal Malaysian Navy ship KD Lekiu which is docked in Lumut in northern Perak state, said deputy director-general of health Ismail Merican.

"Some 200 people are under quarantine after o­ne crew died of suspected Sars. We are still investigating," he told AFP .

Second death

The New Sunday Times quoted sources as saying that the victim was the second member of the ship's crew to die in the last three days. Another died earlier of dengue fever.

Both had high temperatures but o­nly the second victim showed signs of pneumonia, the newspaper said.

Ismail said 19 Malaysian Airlines crew who returned from Taipei o­n Friday have also been placed under home quarantine.

They had stayed in the same hotel in Taipei as Chesley Richards, a specialist from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who was feared to have contracted Sars, he said.

Ismail said the ministry has removed three people earlier diagnosed as probable Sars cases from the list, leaving o­nly five probable cases in Malaysia with two deaths.

Investigations and health reports showed a housewife, a lorry driver and a tile worker working in Singapore did not have Sars, he added. - AFP