Two of the four Italian divers who had been missing inside the underwater cave system at Devana Kandu, Vaavu Atoll, have been recovered deceased by a Finnish specialist cave-diving team. The bodies were brought out of the cave during today's operation. Authorities have not yet released the names of the recovered divers. Two divers remain inside the system.
The four had descended below 50 metres in an unauthorised dive on 14 May 2026 and failed to resurface. The body of a fifth member of the group, diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, was recovered shortly after the initial incident. A Maldivian National Defence Force diver, Sgt-Major Mohamed Mahudhee, lost his life during the early recovery attempt.
The Finnish specialists, mobilised through DAN Europe, took over the operation after the MNDF suspended its own search. Earlier this week the team located all four divers in the third segment of the cave system, which extends for hundreds of metres through multiple chambers and internal passages below the channel mouth.
Recovery of the two remaining divers is expected to continue in the coming days. MT will publish a full update with official statements from Maldivian authorities, the Italian foreign ministry, and the families of the deceased as they are released.
The information from today's dive is expected to inform the next phase of the recovery operation.
