Cave diving tragedy in Maldives ends with recovery of all five Italians

The bodies of the two remaining Italian tourists who went missing during a diving expedition in the Maldives have been recovered, bringing an end to a complex multi-day underwater recovery operation led by Maldivian authorities with support from international technical diving experts.

According to Maldives state broadcaster Public Service Media (PSM News), the final recoveries were completed on Wednesday following coordinated efforts involving the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) Coast Guard, Maldives Police Service, and a specialized team of Finnish technical divers deployed with assistance from the Italian government.

Government officials said all five victims were found inside an underwater cave system where the group had been diving. Recovery efforts were carried out in stages because of challenging underwater conditions, with two bodies retrieved a day earlier and the remaining two recovered on Tuesday.

Chief Government Spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef told PSM News that formal identification procedures for the recovered bodies are currently underway.

Authorities are also coordinating with the Italian government and embassy officials to facilitate repatriation of the victims to Italy.

Shareef expressed condolences to the families of the victims and thanked all personnel and volunteers involved in the mission.

He also acknowledged the support provided by two local companies that assisted the operation, alongside MNDF and police teams that participated in the extensive search and recovery efforts.

The incident began on May 14 after the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre received a report that five Italian divers had failed to return from a dive.

The group consisted of an Italian diving instructor and four tourist divers who had been exploring a cave-diving site in the Maldives.

Authorities launched immediate search operations by sea and air after the group did not surface at the expected time. The first body recovered was later identified as the diving instructor.

The recovery mission drew international attention because of the technical difficulty of cave-diving rescues.

Three Finnish technical divers brought in to assist the operation reportedly have extensive experience in underwater recovery missions in several countries.

ANEWS wp:paragraph