The bodies of the remaining four Italians who went missing while scuba diving in the Maldives last week have been located in a deep underwater cave, the Maldives National Defense Force said on Monday.
Authorities had recovered one body on Thursday, the day the group of five researchers went missing.
The four bodies were “located inside the Vaavu Atoll cave on a joint search and recovery operation,” the Maldives agency said in a statement posted on X. A team of experts sent by the Italian government had joined the mission.
The discovery marks the end of a search by an international consortium of rescuers who combed the deepwater formations for signs of the missing divers. One member of the search team — a diver with the Maldives National Defense Forces — died on Saturday from decompression illness.
The missing divers were part of an expedition of dozens of Italians in the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean known for its crystal clear waters and dive sites.
The dive on Thursday, to explore deepwater reefs and caves, required specialty equipment and was considered “hazardous,” according to the Maldives defense force. At least 20 other Italians on the expedition did not go on the dive and were unharmed.
The missing divers, who included a marine scientist and her daughter, failed to surface after descending to explore the caves, which were at a depth of around 50 meters, or 164 feet. The Maldives coast guard received a distress call at around noon on Thursday.
One body was discovered that evening at around 196 feet — far deeper than the group had planned to go.
The four bodies will be recovered over the next few days in another series of dives, the Maldives National Defense Force said.
Ibrahim Maahil Mohamed contributed reporting from the Maldives.
Ali Watkins covers international news for The Times and is based in Belfast.
The post Bodies of Four Italian Divers Found in Maldives Cave appeared first on New York Times.
