Two more bodies recovered from Maldives cave as operation to retrieve Italian divers continues
Two more bodies have been retrieved from caves in the Maldives after five divers went missing last week.
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The five Italian divers had been attempting to explore a series of three underwater caves at a depth of around 50 metres (165 ft) but failed to resurface.
Now, two of the four bodies of the missing Italian divers have been located and retrieved, with the identities of the bodies yet to be confirmed.
"They were retrieved from the third chamber of the underwater cave by the specialist divers from Finland after a two-hour operation," Mohamed Hossain Shareef, a Maldivian government spokesperson has said.
The bodies of all the scuba divers were located on Monday an extensive search operation.
One of the five missing Italian divers was found last week.
The initial search was suspended on Saturday after a local military diver, Sergeant Major Mohammed Mahdi, died during a perilous mission to try to reach the divers in the complex cave system.
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Last Thursday, Mr Benedetti's body was found near the mouth of the deep cave.
A search for the bodies was halted on Friday due to poor weather but the mission resumed on Saturday.
The incident was the worst single diving accident in the Maldives, according to officials.
Four of the divers were part of a team from the University of Genoa, who insisted it did not give approval for a deep-sea dive as part of their scientific research.
"The requests submitted to the Maldivian authorities...were evidently made outside the scope of the mission authorised by the University," a spokesperson said.
Italian media reported that the divers were reported missing at around 1.45pm by the crew of the vessel they were travelling on.
The body of one of the divers was found in a cave about 60 metres deep, the other tourists were also believed to have been in the cave, which is about 200 feet long.
Further assistance was sent to try and support the rescue in what the MNDF described as a "very high risk dangerous operation".
The foreign ministry said an investigation was underway, adding that the Italian Embassy in Sri Lanka was working to contact the victims' families and provide consular assistance.
Sergeant Major Mahdi, who was one of eight divers in the mission, died after falling ill on the third day of recovery operations in Vaavu Atoll.
The Maldivian military wrote on X: "His courage, sacrifice, and service to the nation will always be remembered. Our deepest condolences to his family and colleagues."
Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said: "These painful days for itIaly are even worse after news that a courageous serviceman, Sergeant Mohammed Mahdi, died following an attempt to reach the bodies of our countrymen.
"This tragedy has united Italy and the Maldives in our sorrow and respect for the victims."