Final two Italian divers’ bodies recovered in Maldives cave accident

The bodies of the final two Italian divers missing in a deep underwater cave in the Maldives were recovered on Wednesday, concluding a perilous international recovery operation that also claimed the life of a Maldivian military rescuer. The incident, which occurred on May 14, resulted in six fatalities, marking one of the deadliest diving accidents in the island nation's history.

The victims were identified as Monica Montefalcone, 52, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, 22; researchers Federico Gualtieri, 31, and Muriel Oddenino, 31; and diving instructor and boat manager Gianluca Benedetti. Benedetti's body was recovered near the cave entrance shortly after the group failed to surface. The body of Maldivian National Defense Force diver Mohamed Mahudhee was recovered on Saturday after he died from decompression sickness during the initial recovery efforts.

The international recovery mission, which involved specialist divers from the Divers Alert Network (DAN) Europe, successfully retrieved the remaining four bodies from the Thinwana Kandu cave system, known locally as "shark cave," at depths exceeding 60 meters...