Two Indian crew on board cruise ship Diamond Princess off Japanese coast test positive for coronavirus, says Indian Embassy in Tokyo.

On Monday, the embassy had said that an unspecified number of Indians were among the nearly 3,000 passengers and crew members on board the cruise ship quarantined off Japan due to diagnosis of coronavirus cases

Cruise ship Diamond Princess, carrying 3,711 people, arrived at the Japanese coast early last week and was quarantined after a passenger who de-boarded last month in Hong Kong was found to be the carrier of the novel virus on the ship.

'Many Indian crew & some Indian passengers are on board the cruise ship Diamond Princess quarantined off Japan due to Coronavirus (nCoV),' it tweeted, without giving a specific number of Indians on the ship.

'In this context, any query please contact First Secretary (Consular) @IndianEmbTokyo at fscons.tokyo@mea.gov.in @CPVIndia @MEAIndia @PMOIndia,' the Indian embassy had said.

Those on the ship have been asked to wear masks and allowed limited access to the open decks as they are advised to remain in the cabins most of the times to contain the spread of the virus, according to media reports.

Quoting an Indian crew member, identified as Binay Kumar Sarkar, on board Diamond Express, NDTV said there are 160 Indian crew members and eight Indian passengers on the ship.

Sarkar, in a video recorded from the ship, appealed to the Indian government and the United Nations to segregate the Indians on board on urgent basis.

'None of them have been checked (for coronavirus),' Sarkar, a chef from Bengal, said in Hindi.

He was flanked by five of his Indians colleagues who were wearing masks.

'Please somehow save us as soon as possible. What's the point if something happens (to us)...I want to request the government of India and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi-ji, please segregate us and bring us back home safely,' he had said.   -- PTI