Bodies Of 2 Italian Divers Are Recovered From Maldives Underwater Cave

MALE, Maldives (AP) — Divers on Tuesday recovered the bodies of two of four dead Italians deep in an underwater cave A spokesman for the Indian Ocean nation said last week, describing “very challenging” conditions at an atoll in the Maldives, including poor visibility and strong currents.

The bodies were located on Monday as the search resumed after being paused after a local military diver died during a dangerous rescue attempt. The bodies were at a depth of approximately 60 meters (200 feet); this was twice the legal depth for recreational diving in the island nation.

Five Italian divers went missing on Thursday. The body of the Italian diving instructor had previously been found outside the cave. The remaining two bodies are expected to be recovered on Wednesday.

The Maldives government said that Finnish divers performing rescue efforts detected the bodies in the innermost part of the cave. Government spokesman Ahmed Shaam said the four bodies were found “almost together”.

Five Italians were exploring a cave in Vaavu Atoll. The first teams dived to locate and mark the entry system where they disappeared.

Presidential spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef told The Associated Press that the cave has been dived in the past by local experts and foreign divers.

Although the divers had permission, authorities did not know the exact location of the cave they were investigating in their proposal, and at least two of the dead were not on the list of researchers submitted, so we did not know they were part of the expedition, Shareef said.

“It’s actually a very challenging dive, you know,” he added. “Number one, because of the depth, number two, because of the actual terrain, because the channel in question has strong currents, there’s a strong downdraft down there, and there are the following conditions, for example, once you enter the cave, the visibility will be almost zero.”

He said the weather was challenging, a warning had been issued and investigators needed to determine whether divers took adequate precautions.

The European Divers’ Alert Network, which commissioned the Finnish divers, described them as technical and cave divers with experience in search and rescue missions, including “deep overhead environments, confined spaces and high-risk scenarios”.

The organization said the team used closed-circuit breathing apparatus, a system that recycles exhaled breathing gas and removes carbon dioxide through a chemical scrubber, allowing for “significantly longer dives.”

Shareef described the incident as unfortunate and tragic, stating that the Maldives has a strong reputation and infrastructure for safe diving, but noted the difference between this type of technical diving and the recreational diving that many visitors enjoy.

The Maldivian military diver’s cause of death is still under investigation, but colleagues suggest he may have died from nitrogen narcosis or decompression at depth.

Ganguly reported from New Delhi.