The bodies of four missing Italian scuba divers who died last week have been found, Maldives government said Monday, following a fraught mission to locate their remains in a network of sea caves.

Five Italians died while exploring the Vaavu Atoll caves on Thursday, prompting a multinational effort to find and retrieve their remains.

One body was discovered that same day at the entrance to the maze-like underwater caves. International cave divers teamed up with Maldivian experts to try to locate the remains of the other four dead.

The operation resumed Monday following a temporary suspension after a military diver lost his life.

Three Finnish divers from the Divers Alert Network (DAN), a global scuba safety group, joined a fourth expert and the local coastguard to develop a new strategy on Sunday. Specialist equipment is being provided by the United Kingdom and Australia, according to Mohamed Hussain Shareef, the chief spokesperson for Maldives government.

Shareef said the bodies had been located in the deepest part of the sea cave, and that the rescuers plan to recover two bodies on Tuesday and the other two on Wednesday.

Who are the divers?

Diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti’s body was found at the mouth of the cave, leading authorities to believe the other four Italians remain inside, Shareef said.

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

A sixth diver decided not to enter the water when the rest of the group dove in, authorities confirmed.

The group were on a scuba diving expedition aboard the Duke of York vessel, according to Italy’s foreign ministry.

The Red Crescent offered to provide psychological First Aid to an overall 20 Italians who remained onboard and no injuries were immediately reported, the ministry added.

The attempt to retrieve the four missing bodies claimed another life, underscoring the peril and complexity of the recovery effort.

Senior military diver Sgt. Mohamed Mahudhee, 43, died on Saturday during a second recovery mission into the cave, which at its deepest point is 70 meters (230 feet) below the surface (about as deep as a 20-story building is tall), and 200 meters long.

“He was one of the most senior divers, which shows just how challenging this dive is,” Shareef said.

What happened on Monday’s recovery mission?

Maldivian divers reentered the water on Monday –– joined by DAN cave divers –– for a safety assessment of the cave.

Factors to consider could include if there is “too strong of an underwater current” or “if the morphology of the cave is safe enough for their planning,” Laura Moroney, DAN’s CEO, told CNN’s Newsroom.

The team has underwater scooters and specialized gas tanks that can recycle air, allowing for more time underwater.

Asked at what point the mission becomes too dangerous, Moroney said: “The team knows they do not have to put themselves at risk… if there is any condition they deem to be too dangerous, they will stop the dive, go back to surface, replan and then dive again the next day, or whenever possible.”

Shareef said the Finnish divers will not go into the decompression zone on Monday and “can’t dive until they fully acclimatize, especially after flying for many hours.”

Maldivian authorities remain confident they can continue the search which will be reviewed based on progress in the coming days, he added.

Rescue diver dies from decompression sickness

Authorities believe military diver Mahudhee, a member of the national defense force, died from decompression sickness – caused by a rapid decrease in pressure that surrounds you, of either air or water.

Decompression sickness is most common in scuba or deep-sea divers, but can also happen during high-altitude or unpressurized air travel, according to Harvard Health.

Each dive in Maldives recovery mission is limited to around three hours due to oxygen and decompression requirements, Shareef said.

However, conditions are extremely challenging, with unpredictable strong currents, narrow passageways leading to a vast cave chamber, and pitch-black darkness throughout, Shareef said.

“You have to be an expert for this level of diving,” he added.

During Saturday’s recovery operation, two divers marked the cave entrance by shooting a balloon up to the water’s surface. This allowed other crew to swim directly toward it and maximize their time inside.

Before resurfacing, divers must stay in shallow water to decompress after ascending from the cave’s depths.

Authorities believe Mahudhee, a member of the national defense force, died from complications during this process.

“He was diving in a pair, as per protocol, and returning to the surface when his partner realized something was wrong and the rest of the team jumped in to try and save him,” Shareef said.

Mahudhee was laid to rest with full military honors at a ceremony in the Maldivian capital Malé, where thousands paid their respects including President Mohamed Muizzu, tourism and military officials and foreign ambassadors.

Maldives has extensive water safety protocols and expert divers, Shareef said, noting the archipelago’s ocean territory is around 3,000 times larger than its landmass.

What happened to the cave divers?

This is yet to be determined.

John Volanthen , a British Cave Rescue Council diving officer, who played a key role in the rescue of Thai youth soccer team in 2018, said it is unknown whether currents played a part in the incident, but that the cave’s depth and silt is what is “unquestionably hampering” recovery efforts.

“It’s essentially a very long way into the cave and normally, cave divers would lay a guideline to find their way into the cave. And that’s potentially what happened with the missing party,” he told CNN.

Panic can also affect divers, Volanthen said, with risks increasing on deeper dives due to narcosis – a temporary, intoxicating state from breathing compressed air.

“It also makes it more likely that you’re inebriated or essentially unable to control yourself,” Volanthen added.

“And so as you start to go deeper, that narcosis effect potentially could create panic, but also would make them less likely to be able to find their way out.

“And also, if the cave becomes silty, as is normal for this type of cave if you touch the walls or the floor, finding the way out becomes much more difficult.”

Carlo Sommacal, Montefalcone’s husband and Giorgia’s father, was unsure what could have caused the accident, saying that “something must have happened down there” given his wife and daughter’s extensive experience.

Speaking to Italian TV, he described Montefalcone as a careful and disciplined diver who would never put her daughter or other colleagues at risk, the Associated Press reported.

He recalled her telling him at times: “This one I can do, you can’t” and how his wife survived the 2004 tsunami while diving off Kenya, the outlet said.

Questions about dive’s legality

An investigation is underway to establish what happened to the divers – and if and how they all reached such depths.

“For recreational and commercial diving, by law, nobody is allowed to go further than 30 meters and unfortunately, this appears to have happened a lot deeper because even the cave’s mouth is almost 50 meters under,” Shareef said.

The vessel’s license has been suspended pending the results of the probe, according to Shareef, who said: “Everything will be looked into.”

The Italian tour operator that manages the Maldives diving trip denied authorizing or knowing about the deep dive that violated local limits, its lawyer told Italian daily Corriere della Sera on Saturday, according to an AP report.

Orietta Stella, representing Albatros Top Boat, said the operator “did not know” the group planned to descend beyond 30 meters. Crossing that threshold requires special permission from Maldivian maritime authorities and the tour operator “would have never allowed it,” she said.

The Italian divers were experienced, but the equipment used appeared to be standard recreational gear rather than technical equipment suited for deep-cave diving, she said.

She also clarified that Albatros only marketed the cruise and neither owned the vessel nor employed the crew, which was hired locally.

CNN has contacted Albatros Top Boat for comment.

Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said everything possible would be done to return their remains, AP reported.

Italian connection

Maldives is highly reliant on tourism, welcoming more than 2 million visitors in 2025, according to its tourism ministry, compared with a resident population of 500,000.

Italy-based diving tour operator George Corbin is credited with introducing tourism to the former British colony in 1972.

Since then, Italy has consistently ranked among Maldives’ largest tourism markets.

“Italy has a very special relationship with us when it comes to tourism, and we’ve been great friends in our hospitality for many years,” Shareef said.

“Local people are devastated not just because this is the biggest diving accident ever in this country but also because they are Italians.”

The Maldivian and Italian governments have been in communication “at the highest level,” with Muizzu sending his “deepest condolences” to Italian President Sergio Mattarella and the families of the deceased and missing, Shareef said.

Rome’s envoy to the country joined rescuers aboard a coast guard ship on Friday, Italy’s foreign ministry said. (BBC)

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