The bodies of two Italians who drowned in a scuba diving accident in the Maldives last week have been brought to the surface, local officials have told the BBC.
They were retrieved from the third chamber of the underwater cave by the specialist divers from Finland after a two-hour operation, Mohamed Hossain Shareef, a Maldivian government spokesperson told the BBC. The two bodies were being brought to the capital Male for identification.
They were among five people who died in the accident. Two bodies remain inside the cave.
The first body of an Italian diver, who was a member of the group, was recovered shortly after Thursday's accident near Vaavu atoll. He has been named by Italian media as boat operations manager and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti. Tragically, a Maldivian rescue diver also died during the search for the bodies.
The four missing divers were eventually found by Finnish divers on Monday in the chamber of the cave furthest from the entrance. Known locally as shark cave, it is up to 60m (197 ft) deep.
The mission to recover the remaining two bodies will resume on Wednesday and a Maldivian official was hopeful they would be retrieved the same day. The recovery operation has been described as complex due to the depth of the cave, the lack of space, and visibility concerns. The entrance to the cave lies at a depth of 47m but the various chambers are at varying depths.
The weather at the time of the dive on Thursday was described as rough, prompting warnings for passenger boats and fishermen. Four of the divers were part of a team from the University of Genoa, which publicly stated it did not give approval for any kind of deep-sea dive related to their scientific research. The dive was carried out in a personal capacity without the university's authorization.
The team was led by Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at Genoa University, who was studying the effects of climate change on tropical biodiversity.
They were retrieved from the third chamber of the underwater cave by the specialist divers from Finland after a two-hour operation, Mohamed Hossain Shareef, a Maldivian government spokesperson told the BBC. The two bodies were being brought to the capital Male for identification.
They were among five people who died in the accident. Two bodies remain inside the cave.
The first body of an Italian diver, who was a member of the group, was recovered shortly after Thursday's accident near Vaavu atoll. He has been named by Italian media as boat operations manager and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti. Tragically, a Maldivian rescue diver also died during the search for the bodies.
The four missing divers were eventually found by Finnish divers on Monday in the chamber of the cave furthest from the entrance. Known locally as shark cave, it is up to 60m (197 ft) deep.
The mission to recover the remaining two bodies will resume on Wednesday and a Maldivian official was hopeful they would be retrieved the same day. The recovery operation has been described as complex due to the depth of the cave, the lack of space, and visibility concerns. The entrance to the cave lies at a depth of 47m but the various chambers are at varying depths.
The weather at the time of the dive on Thursday was described as rough, prompting warnings for passenger boats and fishermen. Four of the divers were part of a team from the University of Genoa, which publicly stated it did not give approval for any kind of deep-sea dive related to their scientific research. The dive was carried out in a personal capacity without the university's authorization.
The team was led by Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at Genoa University, who was studying the effects of climate change on tropical biodiversity.
