Photo: Shutterstock The bodies of four divers announced missing in the Maldives at the end of last week have been found.
The information was shared by the Maldives National Defense Force: "The bodies of four missing divers have been located inside the Vaavu Atoll cave on a joint search and recovery operation conducted by MNDF CG, Maldives Police, and a team of experts arranged by the Italian Government."
Additional dives will be necessary in the next few days to retrieve the bodies of the divers. A fifth diver was found earlier outside the respective cave. Recreational diving limits in the Maldives are set to 30 meters (98 feet), and the five were exploring a cave at a depth of roughly 50 meters (160 feet), explained Italy’s Foreign Ministry.
As a reminder, on Friday, May 15, 2026, divers from the Coast Guard and the police, along with an Italian expert diver, were dispatched to the area where a fifth missing diver had already been found after the tragic scuba accident.
Italy's Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, instructed its ministry to "monitor the recovery of the bodies and to provide assistance to the families of the missing scuba divers and to the Italian nationals who shall now return to Italy."
"At his request, the Maldivian police will make available a team to provide psychological support to the Italian nationals" who were aboard the “Duke of York,” the yacht carrying 25 tourists, including the five missing divers.
Eight Maldivian divers were sent to sea, taking turns in operations, locating and marking the entrance point to the caves where the scuba divers went missing, and attempting to locate their bodies.
Among the victims are two marine biologists, Monica Montefalcone, an Associate Professor of Ecology, and Muriel Oddenino, a research fellow.