The bodies of two of the four remaining Italians who died in an underwater cave in the Maldives were recovered by divers on Tuesday, and work continues to recover the bodies of the remaining two, officials said.
Last week, five Italians died while exploring a cave in Vaabu Atoll, sparking a multinational effort to find and recover their bodies.
The effort was temporarily halted after one of the military divers attempting to find the body was also killed, but it highlighted the dangers of operating at depths of several dozen meters. Authorities believe the cause of death was decompression sickness.
When the search resumed on Monday, divers found the bodies of four Italians in the deepest part of the sea cave. Authorities said they expected to recover two bodies on Tuesday and another on Wednesday.
Maldivian government chief spokesperson Mohamed Hussein Sharif told CNN that the two bodies – one male and one female – were found in a third room of the cave and taken by police to a mortuary in the capital Male.
Maldives state media said the Italian government sent three experienced Finnish divers to help recover the bodies. The Maldives Defense Force said the divers from Divers Alert Network (DAN), a global scuba safety organization, were experts who had previously undertaken similar missions around the world.
The Italian scuba divers were reported missing early Thursday afternoon. Later that day, the body of diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti was discovered at the entrance to the cave.
The other four people killed were Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Somacal; Federico Gualtieri, marine biologist. Researcher Muriel Odenino. Authorities previously announced that the sixth diver had decided not to enter the water.
Efforts to find the remaining four bodies were paused over the weekend following searches by Sgt. Mohamed Mahdi, 43, died on Saturday during the second recovery mission to the cave. At its deepest point, the cave is 70 meters (230 feet) below the surface, roughly the height of a 20-story building, and 200 meters long.
Sharif pointed out that the legal depth for recreational diving in the Maldives is 30 meters (100 feet).
