Last two bodies of Italian tourists trapped in Maldives shark cave are recovered

An elite squad of Finnish divers on Wednesday recovered the final two bodies of the Italian tourists who were trapped 200 feet deep in a shark-infested underwater cave in the Maldives, ending the idyllic paradise’s deadliest diving tragedy.Divers recovered the bodies of Giorgia Sommacal, 22, and researcher Muriel Oddenino, 31, from the Vaavu Atoll cave — six days after their disappearance, sources at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the ANSA News Agency.The daring operation got underway just before 11 a.m.local time and the first body was on a rescue boat within an hour, according to La Repubblica.Minutes later, the second body was aboard the support vessel.

It is unknown who was recovered first.Rescuers recovered the bodies during a relay operation.The dive team hurled a rope attached to a buoy into the water.Then, they plunged to depths of 154 feet and attached a piece of the rope to the cave’s entrance.The divers then entered the cave and retrieved the bodies. A Maldivian navy team waited at 98 feet, received the bodies, and then passed them to another group at 10 feet. They checked that the bodies were properly secured in bags before loading them onto a boat.Autopsies have not yet been carried out on the bodies, but it’s likely the remains will be transported to a morgue in the Maldives capital, Male. On Tuesday, the diving squad, from Finland, recovered the remains of University of Genoa ecology teacher Monica Montefalcone, 52, and researcher Federico Gualtieri, 31.Officials were seen shielding the bodies from public view while they were being transferred from a police boat to an ambulance at Male Harbour.The divers faced a race against time amid fears the bodies could be consumed by sharks – and they used advanced technical systems, including closed-circuit rebreathers, a system that recycles exhaled breathing gas and removes carbon dioxide through a chemical scrubber, which allows for “significantly longer dives,” a spokes...