Authorities in the Maldives say rescue teams have brought out two bodies from an underwater cave where five Italian divers died during a scuba diving trip last week. Two more bodies are still inside the cave.
Maldivian government spokesperson Mohamed Hossain Shareef said Finnish specialist divers carried out the recovery operation. He said the bodies were found in the third chamber of the cave after a two-hour mission and were being taken to the capital, Malé, for identification.
The group went missing during a dive near Vaavu Atoll. The first body recovered was that of diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, who was found near the entrance of the cave shortly after the accident.
A Maldivian rescue diver, Sgt. Mohamed Mahudhee, also died during the search operation on Saturday.
Officials said the remaining four bodies were found on Monday in the deepest section of the cave, known locally as “Shark Cave”. Authorities plan to continue the recovery mission for the remaining two bodies on Wednesday.
The Maldives government said the cave reaches depths of about 60 metres. Officials described the recovery work as difficult because of the depth, narrow spaces and poor visibility underwater.
Four of the divers were linked to the University of Genoa. The university said the cave dive was not part of its approved research activities in the Maldives.
The team included ecology professor Monica Montefalcone, researcher Muriel Oddenino, student Giorgia Sommacal and graduate Federico Gualtieri. Officials said the group had permission to dive to 50 metres but had not mentioned entering the cave system.
Ademide Adebayo
