Maldives locates bodies of 4 missing Italian divers
The bodies were found during a joint search and recovery operation conducted with the Maldives Police Service and international diving experts.
The Maldives National Defence Force on Monday confirmed that the bodies of four Italian divers missing near V. Alimathaa had been located inside an underwater cave.
According to the MNDF, the bodies were found during a joint search and recovery operation conducted with the Maldives Police Service and international diving experts.
The search operation began after five Italian divers went missing last Thursday near a cave at the Alimatha dive point in Vaavu Atoll. One body was found on Thursday.
During the operation, Sergeant Mohamed Mahudhee died after developing decompression sickness while participating in a dive at a depth of approximately 60 metres.
Mahudhee later died while receiving treatment at ADK Hospital.
In a statement on Monday, the MNDF said the four bodies were located inside the same cave where the group had been diving.
“Plans are now in place to retrieve the bodies from the cave during the upcoming diving missions,” the MNDF said.
Chief Government Spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef also confirmed that the bodies had been found during a joint operation involving the MNDF Coast Guard, police and diving experts arranged by the government of Italy.
According to Shareef, additional dives will be conducted in the coming days to recover the bodies from the cave system.
