Bodies of Italian divers who died in Maldives scuba tragedy returned to Italy

The bodies of four Italian divers who died deep inside an underwater cave on May 14 in the Maldives are now being returned home to Italy, a Maldivian government spokesperson reported.

Five Italian divers went missing while exploring the cave about 160 feet underwater in Vaavu Atoll.

A high-risk recovery operation was launched to retrieve the bodies, but it was soon paused after resulting in the death of Mohamed Mahudhee, a Maldivian military diver involved in the mission.

Following his death, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said in a statement: "The death of a diver of the Maldives National Defense Force while diving in search of missing tourists is a matter of deep sorrow for me and for every Maldivian citizen.

"This is heartbreaking news."

Three finish expert cave divers joined the mission after it had resumed on Monday (May 18), who were able to locate the four missing bodies in the innermost chamber of the cave at a depth of around 200 feet.

The operation to recover their bodies resulted in the death of a military diver. (Mohamed Afrah / AFP via Getty Images)

The team recovered the bodies on Tuesday (May 19) and Wednesday (May 20).

The victims, who were on a scientific mission to monitor marine environments with The University of Genoa, were later identified as Monica Montefalcone, a professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.

And a Maldivian government spokesperson confirmed earlier today (May 23) that their remains had been repatriated to Italy.

The spokesperson, Ahmed Shaam, added that the four bodies were found 'pretty much together'.

DAN Europe's CEO Laura Marroni, who supplied the Finnish divers for the emergency operation, also told AFP: "The bodies were found together in an area of the cave. Based on the cave's layout, they may have got lost."

Monica Montefalcone, a professor of ecology at the University of Genoa, and her daughter, were two of the victims who died during the mission. (University of Genova)

She added: "Considering that they had a very limited air supply and therefore only a few minutes at the bottom, there probably wasn't even time for them to make numerous attempts to find the correct exit."

It's known that the group's mission exceeded the recreational diving limit of 30 meters (98 feet) in the Maldives, and the University of Genoa has issued a statement.

The university clarified that the deep-sea dive was conducted in a 'personal capacity' and not part of planned research activities.

Videos of the deep cave network, captured in 2014 by Russian diving expert Vladimir Tochilov, reveal a winding maze with a number of twists, turns, and chambers - with very little natural light, and a number of features that could easily disorient a person.