Authorities are preparing to recover the bodies of four missing Italian scuba divers from the Vaavu Atoll underwater cave system over the next two days, with two bodies scheduled to be retrieved on Tuesday and the remaining two on Wednesday, sources involved in the operation confirmed to The Standard.
The bodies were located inside the third segment of the cave following an orientation dive conducted by foreign cave recovery experts assisting Maldivian authorities in the high-risk mission.
According to sources, the phased recovery plan was developed due to the extreme complexity of the underwater cave network, which includes deep chambers, narrow passages, and hazardous diving conditions that have significantly complicated operations.
The multinational recovery effort intensified after elite Finnish cave divers Sami Paakkarinen, Jenni Westerlund, and Patrik Grönqvist arrived in the Maldives to support local teams navigating the cave system.
The divers went missing during a cave diving expedition in Vaavu Atoll last week. Italian diver Gianluca Benedetti was previously recovered near the cave entrance and repatriated to Italy Monday night aboard Turkish Airlines flight TK735.
The tragedy also claimed the life of Maldivian military diver Mohamed Mahudhee, who died from decompression sickness while participating in the recovery mission.
President Dr Mohamed Muizzu had earlier stated that locating and recovering the missing divers remained the government’s highest priority as recovery teams continue one of the most dangerous underwater operations carried out in the Maldives in recent years.
