The joint search operation team has retrieved the bodies of the two remaining Italian divers who passed away after their ill-fated deep dive into an underwater cave in Vaavu Atoll.
The local law enforcement-led searching team, assisted by the Finnish cave-diving experts, had retrieved the bodies of two other divers yesterday, as four went missing last Thursday.
This was confirmed by the Chief Spokesperson of the Maldivian government, Mohamed Hussain Shareef. He said yesterday, the team retrieved the bodies of ecology professor Monica Montefalcone and graduate Federico Gualtieri.
He also said that all four bodies are being kept in the mortuary in the capital Male' and that authorities are working to send the bodies back to Italy.
In one of the most devastating diving tragedies in the country's history, five divers who went to explore an underwater cave at a depth of 60 meters were reported missing last Thursday.
The body of one of the divers was discovered on Thursday, and the other four remain missing as authorities suspect that they were stuck in the 200-meter-long cave.
On Saturday, a military diver from the Maldives National Defence Force, MNDF, lost his life while searching for the missing divers. Staff Sergeant Mohamed Mahudhee was one of the most experienced divers in the MNDF ranks, and he was buried after a state funeral.
