The death toll from an explosion in a Malaysian coal mine manned by foreign workers including North Koreans has risen to four, police said Wednesday, while around two dozen others were injured, some with serious burns.

The accident took place on Saturday in Selantik, in the interior of Malaysia's rugged Sarawak state, which is located on Borneo island.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Thursday warned Vladimir Putin he will not be able to avoid a "conversation" over the loss of Australian lives in the downing of Flight MH17 over Ukraine.

Last month Abbott vowed to "shirtfront" the Russian president at the G20 summit in Brisbane next week.

When Malaysia's urbane Prime Minister Najib Razak travels abroad he invariably touts his country's widely accepted reputation for moderate Islam, but that image is taking a beating at home.

Increasingly strident Islamist pressure, often initiated by Najib's own government, is causing deepening dismay in the traditionally tolerant multi-faith country.

The leaders of Malaysia and the Netherlands vowed on Wednesday to keep pressing for access to the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 and to bring to justice those responsible for downing the plane in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Najib Razak met with his visiting counterpart Mark Rutte in Malaysia to discuss the Dutch-led investigation into the July 17 disaster, which killed 193 citizens of the Netherlands.

A Malaysia-bound Malindo Air flight diverted to Thailand and made an emergency landing on Monday after the cabin started to de-pressurize, the airline said, adding that none of the 129 people aboard was hurt.

The Malaysia-based carrier's flight OD206 from Delhi had been due to arrive in Kuala Lumpur early Monday but instead re-routed to Bangkok after the incident, which caused oxygen masks to deploy inside the plane.

A Malaysian family on Friday sued the government and beleaguered national carrier for negligence in the mysterious disappearance of flight MH370, in what is believed to be the first lawsuit filed over the disaster.

The suit was filed by lawyers on behalf of the two underage sons of Jee Jing Hang, who was on board the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim vowed Tuesday to go down "fighting a corrupt government" as Malaysia's top court began hearing his appeal against a sodomy conviction that would send him back to jail and out of active politics.

Anwar was cleared in 2012 of charges he sodomised a young former male aide, but that acquittal was controversially reversed in March by an appeals court which convicted him and handed down a five-year jail sentence.

A Malaysian diplomat extradited to New Zealand to face an attempted rape charge was granted bail on Tuesday after his lawyer denied he fled the country under the cloak of diplomatic immunity.

Muhammad Rizalman Ismail agreed to strict conditions, including a curfew, not contacting his alleged victim, surrendering his passport and remaining under the supervision of two Malaysian military attaches.

A Malaysian military attache extradited to New Zealand to face an attempted rape charge was remanded in custody following a brief court appearance on Saturday.

Muhammad Rizalman Ismail, who stood silently in the dock as Malaysian High Commission staff watched from the public gallery, will reappear in court on Tuesday.

Malaysia's Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Wednesday his country was determined to find missing Flight MH370, as he was briefed by Australian officials leading the complex search deep in the Indian Ocean.

Hishammuddin, who is in the Western Australian port of Fremantle to inspect one of the search ships, the GO Phoenix, said the passengers and crew on board the Malaysia Airlines jet "remain in our thoughts and also in our prayers".