Divers have recovered the last two bodies of the four Italians who died deep inside an underwater cave in the Maldives last week.
The Maldives government said the recovery divers spotted the bodies in the cave’s innermost area. Government spokesperson Ahmed Shaam said the four bodies were found “pretty much together.
” The cave has been explored in the past by local experts and foreign divers, presidential spokesperson Shareef told The Associated Press earlier. While the Italian divers had a permit, authorities didn’t know from their proposal the exact location of the cave they were exploring, and at least two of the dead were not on the list of researchers that had been submitted, “so we didn’t know they were part of the expedition,” Shareef said.
He described the conditions deep in the cave as “challenging” with difficult terrain, strong currents and poor visibility. He said an alert had also been issued due to bad weather, and investigators must determine whether the divers took adequate precautions. The Divers’ Alert Network Europe, which deployed the Finnish divers, described them as technical and cave divers with experience in search and recovery missions, including operations in “deep overhead environments, confined spaces and high-risk scenarios.
” The rescue team used closed-circuit rebreathers, a system that recycles exhaled breathing gas and removes carbon dioxide through a chemical scrubber, allowing for “significantly longer dives,” the organization said. The cause of death of the Maldivian military diver was still under investigation, but colleagues have suggested he may have died from nitrogen narcosis or decompression at depth. Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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