After days of searching, officials in Maldives have recovered the bodies of four Italian divers who disappeared during a scuba diving trip last week.
According to authorities, the group was discovered inside a cave around 60 metres underwater in Vaavu Atoll.
The recovery effort involved a group of experienced Finnish and Maldivian divers; a fifth diver from the same group had already been found shortly after the accident happened on Thursday.
During the recovery effort, a Maldivian rescue diver also tragically lost his life.
Authorities say this may be the deadliest diving accident the Maldives has ever seen.
Government spokesperson Mohamed Hossain Shareef said more dives would still need to be carried out over the next few days so the bodies could safely be brought back to the surface. Two recoveries were expected Tuesday, with the remaining two planned for the following day.
Italy’s foreign ministry said the divers were found deep inside the cave system, in the third section furthest from the entrance.
The first victim recovered last week was reportedly discovered closer to the cave opening.
Among the victims were Monica Montefalcone and Muriel Oddenino, who had traveled to the Maldives to study how climate change was affecting marine biodiversity. Also in the group were Giorgia Sommacal and Federico Gualtieri.
The fifth victim was Gianluca Benedetti, a diving instructor and boat operations manager whose body was recovered first, according to media reports.
The group entered the water Thursday morning in Vaavu Atoll but never resurfaced. Police said weather conditions in the area had been rough at the time, and warnings had already been issued for boats and fishermen nearby.
Officials said the team did have permission to carry out coral research and deep dives in the region, but the cave itself had apparently not been mentioned in their proposal.
Their permit reportedly allowed dives down to 50 metres, while the cave entrance sat at about 47 metres below the surface.
Questions have also been raised about whether the dive was officially connected to the university research mission.
The University of Genoa said it never approved any deep cave diving as part of the project and described the dive as something done privately rather than under the university’s authorization.
Meanwhile, the Maldivian rescue diver who died during the search was identified as Mohamed Mahdhee.
He was part of an eight-person rescue team searching underwater. However, when the others resurfaced, they discovered he was missing.
The group immediately went back down and found him unconscious.
Investigators are still working to figure out exactly what caused the accident.
