The bodies of four Italian divers who went missing in Vaavu Atoll while cave diving will be sent to Italy on 23 May.
Fiver Italian divers disappeared on 14 May during a dive inside a cave. While one body was recovered the same day, the remaining bodies were located inside the cave on 18 May by the MNDF Coast Guard, Maldives Police Service, and experienced foreign divers arranged by the Italian government.
During the recovery operation, two bodies were recovered on 19 May, while the remaining two were recovered on 20 May.
Speaking to PSM News, Chief Government Spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef said post-mortems will be conducted in Italy and the reports will be shared with Maldivian investigators.
DAN Europe, the international organisation involved in the recovery efforts, said their final dive in the operation focused on the removal of temporary guide lines, operational references, and equipment placed inside the cave system during the recovery phase. It also included the verification and recovery of additional items remaining on site that may be relevant to the ongoing investigation. All items were handed over to the Maldivian Police Service as part of the ongoing investigation.
DAN Europe said the clean-up operation followed international best practices to minimise environmental damage and leave no trace of the operation.
Those who died included an Italian diving instructor and four divers. During the search and recovery operation, a Maldivian military diver also died. Three experienced Finnish divers arranged by the Italian government also assisted in the recovery mission.