Finnish and Maldivian Divers Recover Final Two Bodies of Italian Divers in Maldives Vaavu Atoll Cave

The final two bodies of five Italian divers who died after going missing while scuba diving in an underwater cave in the Maldives were recovered, with the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation Republic of Maldives confirming that “the four Italian nationals who were missing since the diving incident in Vaavu Atoll on 14 May 2026 have now been recovered.”

The recovery operation centered on Vaavu Atoll, where the bodies were found inside a 197-foot-deep cave by a team of Finnish and Maldivian divers, according to local authorities told BBC News.

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PEOPLE previously reported that one diver’s body was located hours after the incident and that the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) announced on Monday, May 18 that the remaining four tourists had been located.

The Italian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the bodies of the final two missing Italian scuba divers had been recovered, after five people died last Thursday and three bodies had already been recovered in a complex recovery operation involving Maldivian and international dive teams.

Finnish divers working for DAN Europe believe a “sand wall illusion” may have caused the group to take a wrong turn while trying to exit the cave system in Vaavu Atoll.

ynetnews reported that DAN Europe CEO Laura Marroni said, “There was no way out from there,” describing a dead-end corridor inside the cave complex where the divers’ bodies were found.

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AP said the last two bodies were recovered by three Finnish divers supported by the Maldives coastguard and police, and identified them as Muriel Oddenino and Giorgia Sommacal.

In an interview carried by El Mundo, a cave diving expert said, “it is impossible that they were sucked in,” and explained that deep cave diving requires specialized techniques, gases, and equipment such as trimix and a rebreather.

Maldives President’s Media Division via AP and government statements tied the recovery to next steps including repatriation and investigation, with government spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef telling Reuters that authorities would investigate to “find the facts of what happened.”

AP said the bodies were taken to a morgue and that after that officials would coordinate with the Italian government and start the procedure to repatriate the bodies, with presidential spokesperson Mohameed Hussain Shareef saying, “After that we will coordinate with the Italian government and start the procedure to repatriate the bodies.”

AP reported that the four bodies were located Monday at a depth of around 60 meters (200 feet), twice the legal depth for recreational diving in the island nation, and that the search had been temporarily suspended after a local military diver died during a perilous retrieval attempt.

The New York Times quoted DAN spokesman Cristian Pellegrini saying, “The further you enter into the cave system, the more it narrows, and the harder it is to extract a victim,” as investigators sought to piece together a story that “at this moment, is still a mystery.”