Bodies of missing Italian divers found in Maldives

The bodies of four Italian divers who went missing during a scuba diving accident in the Maldives last week have been located, officials have confirmed to the BBC.

The Italians were found inside a 60-metre-deep (197ft) cave in Vaavu Atoll by a joint team of highly trained Finnish and Maldivian divers, the officials said.

The body of a fifth Italian diver, a member of the group, had already been recovered shortly after Thursday's accident.

A Maldivian rescue diver also died on Saturday while searching for the bodies of the group.

It is believed to be the worst single diving accident in the tiny Indian Ocean nation, a popular tourist destination because of its string of coral islands.

"Further dives [are] to be carried out in the coming days to recover the bodies," Mohamed Hossain Shareef, a Maldivian government spokesperson, said in a message to the BBC.

Two of the bodies would be recovered on Tuesday and the remaining two the following day, he said.

Italy's foreign ministry said the four bodies were located in the cave's third section - the furthest from the entrance - and that additional dives would be needed to recover them.

The body of the first Italian victim is believed to have been located near the entrance to the same cave on Thursday.

Two of the Italian divers - Prof Monica Montefalcone and research fellow Muriel Oddenino from the University of Genoa - were in the Maldives looking at the impact of climate change on biodiversity.

Giorgia Sommacal, Prof Montefalcone's daughter and a student at the university, and Federico Gualtieri, who was a recent graduate, were also part of the diving group.

The fifth Italian victim was boat operations manager and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti. His body was the first to be recovered, Italian media reported.

The group entered the water at Vaavu Atoll on Thursday morning and were reported missing when they failed to resurface later on.

Police said the weather was rough in the area, about 100km (62 miles) south of the capital, Male, when the group went missing. A yellow warning was issued for passenger boats and fishermen.

Shareef said the group had permission to study the coral, including deep dives, but added that there was no mention of the cave in their proposal.

Shareef confirmed that Montefalcone's team did have a permit for their scientific work, valid until Sunday, which allowed them to descend to 50 metres.

The mouth of the cave is 47 metres below the surface.

The permit covered various atolls, including Vaavu, with the Duke of York named as the dive boat.

However, only three of those who died were listed as researchers. Neither Sommacal nor Benedetti were mentioned.

The University of Genoa told the BBC that it did not give approval for any kind of deep-sea dive as part of the team's scientific research.

"The requests submitted to the Maldivian authorities...were evidently made outside the scope of the mission authorised by the University," a spokesperson said.

They underlined that the dive was carried out "in a personal capacity", and not part of the research.

"For the University of Genoa, this is a moment of immense grief which we experience with deep respect for the deceased and their families," the university said.

The Maldivian rescue diver who died while searching for their bodies has also been named as Staff Sgt Mohamed Mahdhee.

Shareef told the BBC that Mahdhee was part of a group of eight rescue divers who were trying to locate the bodies on Saturday.

"Eight rescue divers went into the water today. When they surfaced, they realised Mr Mahdhee didn't come up," the Maldivian government spokesman said.

The other divers immediately went into the water again and they found Mahdhee was unconscious.

An investigation is ongoing to establish the cause of the accident.