Italy's foreign minister says divers found bodies of 4 Italians in Maldives sea cave

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MALE, Maldives (AP) — Italy’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that rescuers have located the bodies of four Italian divers deep inside an underwater cave in an atoll in the Maldives, four days after they were reported missing.

Searches had resumed on Monday after being suspended following the death of a local military diver during a perilous mission to try to reach them.

The government of the Indian Ocean island nation confirmed the bodies were spotted in the innermost part of the cave by three Finnish diving experts, supported by the Maldives police and the military.

“As was previously thought, the four bodies were found inside the cave, not only inside the cave but well inside the cave into the third segment of the cave, which is the largest part,” said Ahmed Shaam, a Maldives government spokesman.

He said the four were found “pretty much together.”

“The plan is they will try and recover two bodies tomorrow and possibly the other two the following day,” Shaam said in a voice clip sent to the media.

The Divers' Alert Network Europe, which deployed the three Finnish divers, said on its website that they are technical and cave divers with international experience in search and recovery missions, including operations in “deep overhead environments, confined spaces, and high-risk scenarios.”

The team used advanced technical systems, including closed-circuit rebreathers, a system that recycles exhaled breathing gas and removes carbon dioxide through a chemical scrubber, allowing for “significantly longer dives,” the organization explained.

The body of a fifth Italian — a diving instructor — was found earlier outside the cave. The five were exploring a cave at a depth of about 50 meters (160 feet) in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, according to Italy’s Foreign Ministry. The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30 meters (98 feet).

Three Finnish divers, experts in deep and cave diving arrived in the Maldives on Sunday.

Maldives presidential spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef said earlier that the search was suspended after Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defense Force, died of underwater decompression sickness after being transferred to a hospital in the capital on Saturday.

Rough weather has repeatedly hampered rescue efforts.

Initial teams had already dived to identify and mark the entrance to the cave system where the Italians disappeared. The cause of the deaths remains under investigation.

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Zampano reported from Rome. Krishan Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka contributed.