The bodies of four divers who went missing during an underwater caving trip have been found.
Five Italians died exploring a cave in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, Italy’s Foreign Ministry said.
The victims were identified last week and included a mother and daughter.
Only one of the bodies was initially recovered before the search was suspended after a local military diver, Mohamed Mahudhee, died searching for the remaining four and rough weather impacted rescue efforts.
However, the search resumed on Monday and all five bodies have been located, the Maldives government said.
The victims were Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.
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Mr Benedetti was the first to be recovered from near the mouth of the cave on Thursday. Authorities believe the other four entered the cave before they lost their lives.
The diving limit in the Maldives is 30m. However, the group is understood to have died at a depth of around 50m below the surface.
The Italian tour operator that managed the diving trip has denied authorising or knowing about the group’s deep dive, which exceeded local limits, its lawyer told Italian local publication Corriere della Sera.
An investigation is underway to establish the cause of death.
Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, offered his condolences to Mr Mahudhee’s family and said everything possible would be done to bring the bodies of the victims home.
Mr Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defence Force, was recovered from the water and transferred to a hospital in the country’s capital, Malé.
However, he died of underwater decompression sickness on Saturday. He was buried with military honours in a funeral which took place that evening, attended by the president of the Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu.
In a statement on Friday, the University of Genoa said Ms Montefalcone and Ms Oddenino had travelled to the Maldives on an official scientific mission to monitor marine environments and study the effects of climate change on tropical biodiversity.
The scuba diving trip was not a part of this research and was ‘undertaken privately’, the statement added.
Two other victims were not part of the official mission.