Authorities in the Maldives have recovered the bodies of two Italian divers who went missing following a deadly scuba diving accident near Vaavu Atoll last week, officials confirmed.
According to Maldivian government spokesperson Mohamed Hossain Shareef, the bodies were retrieved from the third chamber of an underwater cave during a two-hour operation carried out by specialist divers from Finland.
The recovered bodies are being transported to the Maldivian capital Malé for formal identification.
The two victims were among five people who died in the diving tragedy. Two additional bodies are still believed to remain inside the cave, locally known as “Shark Cave,” which reaches depths of up to 60 metres.
The first body recovered shortly after Thursday’s accident was identified by Italian media as Gianluca Benedetti, a diving instructor and boat operations manager who was part of the expedition team.
A Maldivian rescue diver also lost his life on Saturday while taking part in the search operation.
Officials said Finnish specialist divers located the four missing divers on Monday in the deepest chamber of the cave, farthest from the entrance. Due to the cave’s depth, limited visibility and narrow spaces, the recovery mission has been described as extremely difficult and dangerous.
Authorities stated that the Finnish team brought the bodies to a depth of 30 metres before Maldivian coastguard divers completed the final stage of the recovery.
Weather conditions at the time of the dive were reportedly rough, with a yellow warning issued for passenger boats and fishermen in the area.
Four of the divers were linked to a research team from University of Genoa, which said it had not authorised any deep cave diving as part of the scientific mission.
In a statement, the university said requests made to Maldivian authorities for the dive were submitted outside the scope of the officially approved research programme and that the dive was conducted in a personal capacity.
Maldivian officials said the group had permission to dive to a depth of 50 metres but had not mentioned plans to explore the cave system.
The expedition was reportedly led by Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa, alongside research fellow Muriel Oddenino. The team had been studying the effects of climate change on tropical marine biodiversity.
The other divers trapped inside the cave included Montefalcone’s daughter Giorgia Sommacal and recent graduate Federico Gualtieri.
Meanwhile, Carlo Sommacal criticised the university’s claim that the dive was unauthorised, arguing that Monica Montefalcone had extensive expertise and years of scientific research experience in the Maldives.
Search and recovery efforts for the remaining two bodies are expected to continue on Wednesday.