Four missing scuba divers were found dead in Maldives 'shark cave' as police release chilling new details

Authorities have confirmed the four missing scuba divers who died in the Maldives last week were found in a 'shark cave'.

Italy's foreign ministry confirmed on Monday (May 18) that the Italian tourists had been located inside Thinwana Kandu cave by a squad from the group Divers Alert Network Europe.

Monica Montefalcone and her 20-year-old daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, as well as Muriel Oddenino and Federico Gualtieri were found four days after they vanished in the waters of Vaavu Atoll on Thursday (May 14)

The body of Gianluca Benedetti, the diving instructor, was found on Friday (May 15), while Sergeant Major Mohammed Mahudhee also died while searching for the bodies of the tourists.

The Italian foreign ministry confirmed their causes of death have yet to be determined, however the Maldives government has confirmed that they were found in a network of caves, which has been likened to a maze.

Mohamed Hussain Shareef, the chief spokesperson for Maldives government, said the bodies were found in the deepest part of the sea cave.

Staff Sgt Mohamed Mahdhee died in the rescue effort (Maldives Government)

A spokesperson for the Maldivian government added: "Further dives [are] to be carried out in the coming days to recover the bodies."

Laura Marroni, the CEO of DAN Europe, the team behind the recovery operation, said: "Today’s result is the outcome of extraordinary preparation, technical excellence, and exceptional teamwork.

“We are deeply grateful to the specialists on site, who are operating with professionalism, discipline, and humanity in demanding environments.”

Four of the divers were from the University of Genoa, with the university expressing its 'deep sorrow' at what happened.

The university said: "The University of Genoa expresses its deep sorrow for the sudden and tragic death of Monica Montefalcone, associate professor of Ecology at the Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences - DISTAV, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, a UniGe student in Biomedical Engineering, Muriel Oddenino, a research fellow at DISTAV, and Federico Gualtieri, a recent UniGe graduate in Marine Biology and Ecology.

"The sympathy of the entire university community goes out to the families, colleagues and students who shared their human and professional journey."

Monica Montefalcone died last week after scuba diving in the Maldives (Instagram)

The Maldives has a recreational diving limit of 30 meters (98 feet), with the tour operator that managed the diving trip telling Italian outlet Corriere della Sera that they did not authorise or know about the dive that exceeded local limits.

Monica Montefalcone's husband, Carlo Sommacal, told La Repubblica that his wife was an 'expert' in scuba diving and had notched up 5,000 dives in her time.

"She knows what to do even in times of difficulty," he told the outlet.

He also revealed his wife typically took a GoPro on her scuba dives, which could provide answers for the families' victims.

• Bodies of four missing divers in Maldives scuba diving tragedy found
• Maldives scuba diving tourists' deaths may be explained by missing GoPro