Rescuers have located the bodies of four Italian divers deep inside an underwater cave in the Maldives, four days after they were reported missing. The discovery was made by three Finnish diving experts, supported by the Maldives police and military, according to the government spokesperson Ahmed Shaam.
The bodies were found in the innermost part of the cave, specifically in the third and largest segment. The recovery operation is expected to take two days, with two bodies to be retrieved each day. A fifth Italian diver, a diving instructor, was found earlier outside the cave.
The five divers were exploring a cave at a depth of about 50 metres in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, exceeding the recreational diving limit of 30 metres in the Maldives. The government had granted the group a permit to research soft corals at the Devana Kandu site, but not for cave diving, which is considered a different and more hazardous discipline.
The boat operator of the MV Duke of York, Abdul Muhsin Moosa, stated that the vessel had permission for recreational diving up to 30 metres, and the divers were briefed on this limit upon arrival. The government has suspended the boat's operation as it lacked a dive school permit required for expeditions.
The search had been suspended earlier after a local military diver, Mohamed Mahudhee, died of decompression sickness during a rescue attempt. This incident is the deadliest single diving event in the country's history. The cause of the deaths remains under investigation.
