Italy’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that rescuers had located the bodies of four Italian divers deep inside an underwater cave in an atoll in the Maldives, four days after they were reported missing.
Search operations resumed on Monday after being suspended following the death of a local military diver during a mission to reach them.
The group of five Italians had gone missing after they failed failed to return to the surface while exploring a cave at a depth of about 50 meters in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday.
The accident was the deadliest diving disaster in the tourist destination.
Bodies found in innermost section
The Maldivian government confirmed that the bodies were spotted in the innermost section of the cave by three Finnish diving experts working alongside Maldives police and military personnel.
“As was previously thought, the four bodies were found inside the cave, not only inside the cave but well inside the cave into the third segment of the cave, which is the largest part,” said Ahmed Shaam, a Maldives government spokesman, according to a report by The Associated Press.
He said the four were found “pretty much together.”
“The plan is they will try to recover two bodies tomorrow and possibly the other two the following day,” Shaam said in a voice clip sent to the media.
Also Read | After 5 years in Europe, founder says returning to India felt suffocating: ‘It’s hard to move back home’
Fifth body found earlier
The body of a fifth Italian diver a diving instructor had earlier been recovered outside the cave.
According to Italy’s Foreign Ministry, the five were exploring a cave at a depth of about 50 metres (160 feet) in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday. The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30 metres (98 feet).
The fifth victim was Gianluca Benedetti, a boat operations manager and diving instructor.
Four of the Italian divers were part of a University of Genoa research team: Prof Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, and researchers Muriel Oddenino and Federico Gualtieri.
The group entered the water at Vaavu Atoll on Thursday morning and were reported missing after they failed to resurface.
Three Finnish divers specialising in deep and cave diving arrived in the Maldives on Sunday to assist with the operation.
Rough weather repeatedly hampered rescue efforts.
Worst diving accident ever in Maldives
Initial search teams had already dived to identify and mark the entrance to the cave system where the Italians disappeared. Authorities said the cause of the deaths remains under investigation.
The incident is believed to be the ‘worst single diving accident in the Maldives’, a popular Indian Ocean tourist destination known for its coral islands, according to the BBC.
Police said weather conditions were rough in the area, about 100 km (62 miles) south of Male, when the group disappeared. A yellow warning had been issued for passenger boats and fishermen.
Group was studying ‘coral reef’s’ for research
The president’s spokesperson said the group had permission for a research mission to study coral reefs, including deep dives, but added that there was no mention of cave exploration in their proposal.
Shareef had previously told the BBC that recreational scuba divers were permitted to dive only up to 30 metres and that it remained unclear why the Italians entered a cave nearly twice that depth.
The Maldivian rescue diver who died during the search operation was identified as Staff Sgt Mohamed Mahdhee.
A Maldivian government spokesperson told the BBC that Mahdhee was among a group of eight rescue divers searching for the bodies on Saturday.
The other divers immediately re-entered the water and found Mahdhee unconscious.
