In brief
- The bodies of four Italian divers have been found in the Maldives following a days-long search.
- A rescue diver also died over the weekend while searching for the bodies.
Rescuers have located the bodies of four Italian divers believed to be deep inside an underwater cave in the Maldives, Italian authorities have confirmed.
The searches had resumed on Monday after being suspended following the death of a local military diver during a perilous mission to try to reach them.
The body of one Italian — a diving instructor — was found earlier outside the cave.
The divers are believed to have died while exploring a cave at a depth of about 50m in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, according to Italy’s Foreign Ministry.
The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30m.
On Saturday, the Maldives suspended the operating licence of a luxury vessel from which the Italians had been diving from.
The University of Genoa said the victims included a marine biology professor, her daughter and two young researchers.
The local government is investigating why the group went below the officially permitted depth of 30m.
The incident is the deadliest diving disaster to have occurred in the Maldives.
Diving and water sport-related accidents are relatively rare in the South Asian nation, although several fatal incidents have been reported in recent years.
The low-lying Maldives, a nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered some 800km across the equator in the Indian Ocean, is a luxury holiday destination popular with divers, who often stay at secluded resorts or on liveaboard dive boats.
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