Bodies of missing Italian divers found in Maldives

The bodies of all five Italian divers who died in the Maldives last week have now been found, officials tell the BBC. Bodies of missing Italian divers found in Maldives Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Among the five who died were Giorgia Sommacal (L), her mother Monica Montefalcone (C) and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti Two women and a man on the right - a composite image of three of the victims of a diving tragedy in Italy Southern and Eastern Europe correspondent The bodies of four Italian divers who went missing during a scuba diving accident in the Maldives last week have been located, officials have confirmed to the BBC. The bodies of four Italian divers who went missing during a scuba diving accident in the Maldives last week have been located, One body, belonging to a fifth member of the group, had already been located after the incident on Thursday. The Italian nationals were found inside a 60-metre-deep (197ft) cave in Vaavu Atoll by a joint team of highly trained Finnish and Maldivian divers, according to local authorities. A rescue diver also died on Saturday while searching for the bodies of the group. "Further dives [are] to be carried out in the coming days to recover the bodies," Mohamed Hossain Shareef, a Maldivian government spokesperson, said in a message to the BBC. Italy's foreign ministry said they were located in the cave's third section - the furthest from the entrance - and that additional dives would be needed to recover them. The body of the first Italian victim is believed to have been located near the entrance to the same cave on Thursday. The incident is believed to be the worst single diving accident in the tiny Indian Ocean nation, a popular tourist destination because of its string of coral islands. Muriel Oddenino (L) and Federico Gualtieri were also part of the University of Genoa group A woman in a hat and sunglasses beside a man in shorts who is standing on a rock Four of the Italian divers were part of a University of Genoa team: Prof Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, and researchers Muriel Oddenino and Federico Gualtieri. The fifth Italian victim was boat operations manager and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti. The group entered the water at Vaavu Atoll on Thursday morning and were reported missing when they failed to resurface later on. Police said the weather was rough in the area, about 100km (62 miles) south of the capital, Male, when the group went missing. A yellow warning was issued for passenger boats and fishermen. The president's spokesperson said the group had permission for their research mission to study the coral, including deep dives, but added that there was no mention of the cave in their proposal. Shareef previously said to the BBC that recreational scuba divers were only allowed to dive up to a depth of 30m and it was not clear why the Italians went into a cave that was nearly twice as deep. Mohamed Mahdhee was part of a group of eight rescue divers trying to locate the bodies Maldivian diver Mohamed Mahdhee, with dark hair and beard, looks towards the camera. There is a flag behind him. The Maldivian rescue diver who died while searching for their bodies has also been named as Staff Sgt Mohamed Mahdhee. A Maldivian government spokesperson told the BBC that Mahdhee was part of a group of eight rescue divers who were trying to locate the bodies on Saturday. "Eight rescue divers went into the water today. When they surfaced, they realised Mr Mahdhee didn't come up," Shareef previously told the BBC. The other divers immediately went into the water again and they found Mahdhee was unconscious. An investigation is ongoing to establish the cause of the accident. Five Italians die during cave scuba dive in Maldives Rescue diver dies during search for bodies of Italians who drowned in Maldives caves Staff Sgt Mohamed Mahdhee died while diving in the search-and-rescue operation, the Maldives government tells the BBC. Four of the Italians were part of a team from the University of Genoa. The Maldives is threatening international legal action to press its claim for control of the Chagos Islands. The freight train collided with a bus in Bangkok, killing eight people and injuring dozens of others. Kami Rita Sherpa and Lakpa Sherpa summited Everest for the 32nd and 11th time, respectively. Lai Ching-te made his first direct response to Trump and Xi's meeting where they discussed Taiwan independence. Eight people were injured, four seriously, before passers-by gave chase and stopped the man. Police and rescue officials said the collision sparked a fire that engulfed the bus.