Bodies of Missing Italian Divers Located in Maldives Cave
Rescue teams have discovered the bodies of four Italian divers deep within an underwater cave in the Maldives' Vaavu Atoll, four days after they were reported missing. The search resumed following a suspension caused by the death of a local military diver during a hazardous attempt to reach the missing explorers.
The government of the Indian Ocean island nation confirmed on Monday that three Finnish diving experts, supported by police and military personnel, located the bodies in the innermost section of the cave.
“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 spokesperson.
He added, “The four were found pretty much together.”
Shaam further explained the recovery plan:
“The plan is they will try and recover two bodies tomorrow and possibly the other two the following day.”
Earlier, the body of a fifth Italian diver, a diving instructor, was found outside the cave. According to Italy’s foreign ministry, the group was exploring a cave at approximately 50 metres (160 feet) depth on Thursday. This exceeds the Maldives’ recreational diving limit of 30 metres.
Permits and Diving Regulations
Maldives presidential spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef stated that the government had issued the group a permit to research soft corals at the Devana Kandu site.
“What we didn’t know was that it was cave diving,”
Shareef said.
“Because, as divers will tell you and appreciate, it’s a very different discipline with its own sets of challenges and risks involved, and particularly at that depth, there are any number of things that could have gone wrong.”
Shareef also mentioned that the operation of the boat used by the divers has been suspended due to regulatory non-compliance:
“Because the regulations here say that if you want to take divers on expeditions, you need a dive school permit, which they didn’t have, sadly.”
The boat operator, Abdul Muhsin Moosa, of the MV Duke of York, stated that the vessel had permission for recreational diving up to 30 metres.
“We are sharing these details with the government, as well,”
he said, adding that the divers were briefed upon arrival about the Maldives’ recreational diving limits and that exceeding 30 metres was not permitted.
Incident Impact and Rescue Efforts
This incident is the deadliest single event in the Maldives’ diving history.
Three Finnish divers, experts in deep and cave diving, arrived in the Maldives on Sunday to assist with the search.
Shareef reported that the search was suspended after Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldives National Defence Force, was transferred to a hospital in the capital on Saturday following an incident during the rescue operation.
Rescue efforts have been repeatedly hindered by rough weather conditions.
Initial teams had already dived to identify and mark the entrance to the cave system where the Italians disappeared. The cause of the deaths remains under investigation.
