Italy's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that rescuers had found four bodies Italian divers deep in an underwater cave in an atoll in the Maldives, four days after they were reported missing.
The search resumed on Monday after being suspended following an investigation the death of a local navy diver during the dangerous mission of trying to reach them.
The government of the Indian Ocean island nation confirmed that the bodies were found in the inner part of the cave by three Finnish experts, supported by the Maldives police and military.
“As previously thought, these four bodies were found inside the cave, not only inside the cave but also inside the cave entering the third part of the cave, which is the largest part,” said Ahmed Shaam, a spokesman for the Maldives government.
He said the four were found “very close together.”
“The plan is that they will try to remove two bodies tomorrow and maybe two more the day after,” Shaam said in a statement sent to the media.
Office of the President of the Maldives via Reuters
The body of a fifth Italian – a diving instructor – was found earlier outside the cave. The five were exploring a cave about 160 meters deep in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, according to the Italian Foreign Ministry. The recreational limit for diving in the Maldives is 30 meters (98 feet).
Three Finnish diversexperts in diving and caving arrived in the Maldives on Sunday.
Maldives presidential spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef said earlier that the search was suspended after Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defense Force, died of illness underwater after being transferred to a hospital in the capital on Saturday.
The victims were identified as Monica Montefalcone, associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; his daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, according to the Maldivian government.
Greenpeace via AP 
Benedetti's body was found on Thursday near the mouth of the cave.
Montefalcone and Oddenino were in the Maldives on an official scientific mission to monitor marine environments and study the effects of climate change on tropical biodiversity, the University of Genoa said in a statement on Friday. However, the scuba diving activity where the fatal accident occurred was not part of an organized study and was “conducted in secret,” it said.
Bad weather has repeatedly hampered rescue efforts.
The first teams were already diving to identify and mark the entrance to the cave system where the Italians disappeared. The cause of death is still under investigation.
Divers exceed recommended limits
Cave diving is a highly technical and dangerous activity that requires special training, equipment and strict safety rules. Dangers are greatest in areas where divers cannot go straight up and deep, especially when conditions are poor. Experts say it's easy to get confused or lost inside the caves, especially since clouds of sediment can greatly reduce visibility.
The group's depth exceeds the maximum depth recommended for recreational divers by most established scuba certification agencies.
Benedetti's body was found on Thursday. Shareef said Benedetti's remains were found near the mouth of the cave. Authorities believe the remaining four entered the cave.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the cave was divided into three large rooms connected by small openings. Recovery teams checked two of the three rooms on Friday, but the search was limited due to oxygen depletion and collapse.
Local officials called the incident the worst single diving accident in the history of the Maldives, a country of 1,192 small coral islands scattered about 500 kilometers across the equator in the Indian Ocean.
Accidents related to diving and sports appear to be rare in the South Asian nation, although several fatal incidents have been reported in recent years.
A British woman tourist died while diving in December, and her distraught 71-year-old husband died a few days later after falling ill.
A 26-year-old Japanese tourist went missing after a diving trip near the capital in June.
Local media reports say that at least 112 tourists have died in sea-related incidents in the past six years, and 42 of them were victims of diving or water skiing accidents.
