Rescue diver dies during search for bodies of Italians who drowned in Maldives caves

A rescue diver has died while searching for the bodies of four Italians who died in a scuba-diving accident in the Maldives.

Staff Sgt Mohamed Mahdhee was taken to hospital in critical condition and later succumbed to his injuries, a government spokesman told the BBC on Saturday.

Five Italians died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of around 50m (164ft) on Thursday. So far, the body of one of them is thought to have been recovered, in a cave at a depth of around 60m (197ft).

The incident is believed to be the worst single diving accident in the tiny Indian Ocean nation, a popular tourist destination because of its string of coral islands.

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu travelled to Vaavu Atoll on Saturday to observe the search operations.

"Eight rescue divers went into the water today. When they surfaced, they realised Mr Mahdhee didn't come up," Mohamed Hossain Shareef, a Maldivian government spokesman told the BBC.

The other divers immediately went into the water again and they found Mahdhee had blacked out.

The Maldives military has described the operation as very high risk, with unfavourable weather conditions.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani sent condolences: "These days of grief for Italy are compounded by the news that one of your brave soldiers... died while attempting to dive to reach the bodies of our fellow Italians."

"This tragedy unites Italy and the Maldives in grief and respect for the victims," he added.

Four of the Italian divers were part of a University of Genoa team, including professor of ecology Monica Montefalcone, her daughter and two researchers. The fifth was a boat operations manager and diving instructor.

The five entered the water at Vaavu Atoll on Thursday morning, local media said, and were reported missing when they failed to resurface later on.

Police said the weather was rough in the area, about 100km (62 miles) south of the capital, Male. A yellow warning was issued for passenger boats and fishermen.

Shareef said recreational scuba divers were only allowed to dive up to a depth of 30m and it was not clear why the Italians went into a cave that's 60m under water.

Italy's foreign ministry said earlier that another 20 Italian nationals aboard the Duke of York yacht, from which the five divers took off, were unharmed and receiving assistance from the Embassy of Italy in Colombo, Sri Lanka.