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.

One body, belonging to a fifth member of the group, had already been located after the incident on Thursday.

The Italian nationals were found inside a 60-metre-deep (197ft) cave in Vaavu Atoll by a joint team of highly trained Finnish and Maldivian divers, according to local authorities.

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

"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.

Italy's foreign ministry said they 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.

The incident 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.

Four of the Italian divers were part of a University of Genoa team: Prof Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, and researchers Muriel Oddenino and Federico Gualtieri.

The fifth Italian victim was boat operations manager and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.

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.

The president's spokesperson said the group had permission for their research mission to study the coral, including deep dives, but added that there was no mention of the cave in their proposal.

Shareef previously said to the BBC that recreational scuba divers were only allowed to dive up to a depth of 30m and it was not clear why the Italians went into a cave that was nearly twice as deep.

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

A Maldivian government spokesperson 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," Shareef previously told the BBC.

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.