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2h ago

Finnish Team Recovers All Bodies of Italian Divers From Maldives Cave

The recoveries complete a complex international operation with prosecutors in the Maldives and Italy investigating permits, equipment and safety procedures.

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The multinational recovery effort involved local experts, three Finnish divers from the global scuba safety group Divers Alert Network (DAN) and specialist equipment provided by the UK and Australia.
In this handout photo release by Maldives President Media Division, a Finnish diver, left, gets ready to attempt to recover the bodies of two of the four Italians who died deep inside an underwater cave in an atoll earlier this month, at Alimathaa Island, in Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, Tuesday, May 19, 2026.
An ambulance carrying the body of one of the five Italian scuba divers who died in an accident in underwater caves, arrives at a mortuary in Male, Maldives, May 19, 2026. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage

Overview

  • Last Thursday five Italian divers entered a deep cave in Vaavu Atoll and failed to surface, with the group's dive instructor found the same day.
  • Three Finnish technical divers from Divers Alert Network Europe completed staged deep dives on Wednesday to bring the final two bodies to the surface and transfer all five to Malé for identification and repatriation.
  • A Maldivian National Defence Force diver died during an earlier recovery attempt, which forced a pause in operations and led Italy to coordinate international specialist support.
  • Authorities say the dive exceeded normal recreational depth limits and that the team’s permit did not disclose cave entry or list at least two participants, and investigators have recovered GoPro cameras and dive computers for forensic analysis.
  • Probes by Maldivian and Italian prosecutors, a suspended dive-boat licence, planned autopsies and analysis of recovered equipment could lead to criminal or administrative action and renewed scrutiny of dive permitting and operator oversight in the Maldives.