Maldives Locates 4 Italian Divers' Bodies in 70-Meter Vaavu Cave After Deadly Recovery Mission
Updated
Updated · CNN · May 17
Maldives Locates 4 Italian Divers' Bodies in 70-Meter Vaavu Cave After Deadly Recovery Mission
8 articles · Updated · CNN · May 17
Four missing Italian divers were located Monday inside the Vaavu Atoll cave system, days after a fifth member of the group was found dead at the cave entrance.
The search resumed after a Saturday suspension triggered by the death of 43-year-old military diver Sgt. Mohamed Mahudhee, who authorities believe suffered decompression sickness during a recovery attempt.
The cave reaches 70 meters deep and 200 meters long, with strong currents, narrow passages and darkness limiting each dive to about three hours and complicating body recovery.
Finnish cave divers from Divers Alert Network joined Maldivian teams to reassess safety and strategy, while Britain and Australia supplied specialist equipment for further dives in coming days.
Investigators are also examining how the Italians reached depths beyond Maldives' 30-meter legal limit for recreational diving; the vessel's license has been suspended pending the probe.
Why did expert divers ignore safety laws, leading to the Maldives' worst diving accident?
Could new technology have prevented the deaths of six people in a perilous underwater cave?