Bodies of last two Italian divers recovered from underwater cave

The bodies of the remaining two Italian divers who went missing during a diving expedition on Thursday have been recovered.

Five Italian tourists were reported missing at around 01:45 pm Thursday after going on a scuba diving trip to a 200-meter-long underwater cave system located near V. Alimatha.

The victims were identified as Monica Montefalcone, a marine biology professor connected to the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.

The body of Benedetti was found at around 06:13pm Thursday, from 60 meters underwater, inside the cave.

The government’s chief spokesperson, Mohamed Hussain Shareef (Mundhu), on Wednesday confirmed the recovery of the last two bodies to Sun, following the recovery of two other bodies on Tuesday. 

The MNDF had continued to conduct recovery dives, before suspending the mission on Saturday, after Coast Guard’s Sergeant First Class Mohamed Mahudhy died during one of the dives. The operation resumed on Monday with a team of three Finnish technical diving experts, one of whom is a cave diving specialist.

On the same day, the Finnish team located four bodies close together inside the innermost chamber of the cave, its deepest section at a depth of approximately 60 meters. Under Maldivian law, recreational diving is restricted to a maximum depth of 30 meters. 

The incident is considered one of the deadliest diving accidents in Maldivian history. As a result, the operating license of the safari vessel involved, the "Duke of York," has been temporarily suspended.

Authorities from both Maldives and Italy have launched investigations into the case, which has garnered widespread international attention. 

To be updated...