Bodies of divers who died exploring Maldives cave recovered

The bodies of two Italian divers who died while exploring a cave in the Maldives have been recovered.

The bodies of a man and woman were brought up from a depth around 60m (200 ft) to 30 metres by a specialist team of Finnish divers.

Maldivian divers and the police then assisted in bringing them to the surface, Maldives government spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef announced.

They were among five Italians who, according to Italy's Foreign Ministry, are believed to have died on trip to explore a cave in the Vaavu Atoll at a depth of around 50m (165ft) last Thursday.

"Identities have not been confirmed yet, but we ‌know that it's a male and female body that has been recovered," Mr Shareef said.

One of the divers - diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti - was recovered near the mouth of the cave on Thursday. Authorities believe the other four had entered the cave.

They were Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; and researcher Muriel Oddenino; according to the Maldivian government.

Efforts to recover the remaining two bodies will continue and, under the government's plan, are set to be completed on Wednesday.

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An initial search was suspended last week after local military diver Mohamed Mahudhee died during a perilous mission to try to reach the divers, but searches resumed on Monday.

Mr Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defense Force, died of underwater decompression sickness after being transferred to a hospital in the capital on Saturday.

Ms Montefalcone and Ms Oddenino were in the Maldives on an official scientific mission to monitor marine environments and study the effects of climate change on tropical biodiversity, the University of Genoa said in a statement on Friday.

But the scuba diving activity during which the deadly incident occurred was not part of the planned research and was "undertaken privately", it said.

The statement also said the two other victims - student Ms Sommacal and recent graduate Mr Gualtieri - were not part of the scientific mission.

The cause of the deaths is under investigation.

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