Finnish Divers to Retrieve Two Bodies of Italians from Maldives Cave

COLOMBO (News 1st); Three Finnish divers are set to attempt the recovery of the bodies of two of four Italian divers who died inside an underwater cave in an atoll in the Maldives, five days after they were reported missing.

The bodies were located on Monday when search operations resumed, following an earlier suspension after a local military diver died during a dangerous mission to reach them. The Italian divers had gone missing on Thursday.

Maldives government spokesperson Ahmed Shaam said the recovery mission would involve retrieving the bodies from a depth of approximately 60 meters (200 feet). The operation will bring them up to about 30 meters (nearly 100 feet), where the Maldives Coast Guard will take over and transfer the remains closer to the surface before handing them over to the police.

The legal limit for recreational diving in the Maldives is 30 meters.

Authorities confirmed that the bodies were discovered in the innermost section of the cave system by three Finnish diving experts, supported by the Maldives Police and military personnel. “As was previously thought, the four bodies were found inside the cave, not only inside the cave, but well inside the cave into the third segment of the cave, which is the largest part,” Shaam said.

He added that the bodies were located “pretty much together,” with plans to recover two bodies on Tuesday and the remaining two on Wednesday.

The Finnish divers were deployed by Divers’ Alert Network Europe, which described them as experienced technical and cave divers with international expertise in search and recovery operations in deep, confined, and high-risk environments.

The team has been using advanced technical systems, including closed-circuit rebreathers, equipment that recycles exhaled gases and removes carbon dioxide through a chemical process, allowing for significantly longer dives.

Earlier, the body of a fifth Italian diver, an instructor, was recovered outside the cave on the day the group was reported missing. According to Italy’s Foreign Ministry, the five divers had been exploring the cave at a depth of about 50 meters (160 feet) in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday.

Initial search teams had already descended to identify and mark the entrance to the cave system where the divers disappeared, as recovery efforts continue under challenging and hazardous conditions.