The remaining three men trapped by bad weather on a mountaintop in northeastern Malaysia's Kelantan state for about a week have been airlifted to safety.

Hazmi Hashim, 43, Azmi Abdul Rahim, 35, and Abdul Rahim Kassim, 40, were rescued late yesterday after more than a week of surviving on rainwater.

Two of the men, Hairuddin Abdul Wahab, 40, and Razi Kanesh, 24, were rescued three days ago while the three remained on the mountain because there was not enough space on the helicopter.

But they were left stranded on the mountain as thick clouds, strong wind and rain hampered efforts to rescue them.

The five had gone to the mountain on December 3 to measure rainfall in the area and were due to return after two days.

Hampered by weather

Instead they were stranded with no food or maps when bad weather conditions prevented their helicopter from picking them up.

"We were told that the helicopter which had brought us to the mountain earlier could not return to pick us up due to very bad weather," Hazmi Hashim, was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.

"Then the rains got heavier and lasted for several days and we were told over the walkie-talkie that the helicopter still could not make it," he said.

After going for several days without food and surviving only on rain water, they all felt weak and tired, Hazmi said.

"We kept in touch with the outside world through our walkie-talkie...but at all times we were confident that we would eventually be rescued," Abdul Rahim said. - AFP