The bodies of two Italians who drowned in a scuba diving accident in the Maldives last week have been brought to the surface, local officials have 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, stated.
The bodies are being transported to the capital, Male, for identification. They were part of a group of five who tragically lost their lives in the incident, with two bodies still unaccounted for.
One of the deceased, named by Italian media as Gianluca Benedetti, a boat operations manager and diving instructor, was recovered shortly after the accident last Thursday.
On Saturday, a Maldivian rescue diver lost his life while searching for the missing personnel. The four divers were ultimately discovered in the chamber of the cave dubbed shark cave, which reaches depths of up to 60 meters.
The subsequent recovery mission will continue as authorities remain hopeful of retrieving the remaining bodies. Investigators believe that the discovery of these bodies may shed light on the accident's causes.
The diving excursion has been described as complex due to the challenging conditions, including visibility issues and detrimental weather, as a yellow warning had been issued for marine vessels on the day of the dive.
The divers, associated with the University of Genoa, undertook the dive without the university's approval, as it was conducted in a personal capacity rather than as part of sanctioned research.
Calls for accountability have been made following the incident. The university's spokesperson emphasized the need to reassess diving protocols in compliance with safety regulations, hinting at further investigations into how these dives were conducted.
