Bodies of two Italian divers recovered from sea cave in Maldives

By Christian Edwards, CNN

(CNN) — The bodies of two of the four remaining Italians who died in an underwater cave in the Maldives were recovered by divers on Tuesday, an official said, as efforts continue to retrieve the remains of the two others.

Five Italians died while exploring the Vaavu Atoll caves last week, prompting a multinational effort to locate and retrieve their remains.

That effort was briefly paused after one of the military divers attempting to locate the bodies also died, underscoring the dangers of operating tens of meters underwater. Authorities believe the death was caused by decompression sickness.

When the search resumed Monday, the divers found the bodies of the four Italians in the deepest part of the sea cave. Authorities said they planned to retrieve two of the bodies on Tuesday, and two on Wednesday.

Mohamed Hussain Shareef, the chief spokesperson for the Maldives’ government, told CNN that the two bodies – one male, one female – were found in the third chamber of the cave, and that they were being brought to the mortuary in the capital, Malé, by police.

The Italian government brought in three experienced Finnish divers to help recover the bodies, according to Maldivian state media. The Maldives National Defense Force said the divers – from the Divers Alert Network (DAN), a global scuba safety group – were specialists who had previously worked on similar missions around the world.

The Italian scuba divers were reported missing early Thursday afternoon. Later that day, the body of the diving instructor, Gianluca Benedetti, was found at the mouth of a cave.

The four others killed were Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; Federico Gualtieri, a marine biologist; and Muriel Oddenino, a researcher. A sixth diver decided not to enter the water, authorities said previously.

Efforts to locate the four remaining bodies were paused over the weekend after Sgt. Mohamed Mahudhee, 43, died Saturday during a second recovery mission into the cave. At its deepest point, the cave is 70 meters (230 feet) below the surface – about as deep as a 20-story building is tall – and 200 meters long.

Shareef noted that the legal depth for recreational diving in the Maldives is 30 meters (100 feet).

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CNN’s Laura Sharman contributed reporting.