Bodies of last two Italian divers recovered in Maldives

The bodies of the last two of five Italians killed in a diving incident in the Maldives were recovered on Wednesday, the government said, as focus shifted to possible criminal liability.

The pair were brought to the surface 15 minutes apart following a complex recovery from a deep underwater cave, Maldives' government spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef said.

"Both have been recovered from the same cave where two were extracted yesterday," Shareef told AFP.

Their Maldives-based Italian dive guide also died. His body was recovered on Thursday afternoon, a few hours after they were reported missing in Vaavu Atoll, south of Male, the capital of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Shareef said local authorities were continuing an investigation into how the Italians were allowed to descend to a depth of 60 meters (196 feet) when the country permits a maximum depth of 30 meters for tourists.

The operating licence of the dive boat on which the five victims were staying has been suspended.

"If there is a breach of laws, then of course it naturally becomes a criminal investigation," Shareef said, adding that the government was willing to fully support any manslaughter investigation by the Italian authorities.

A Maldivian National Defence Force rescuer also died from decompression complications on Saturday, forcing the authorities to suspend the recovery until foreign assistance arrived.

Italy's University of Genoa said the divers included marine biology professor Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia, and two young researchers, Muriel Oddenino and Federico Gualtieri.

Italian daily Corriere della Sera on Tuesday quoted the university as saying that "the scuba diving activity during which the accident occurred was not part of the activities envisaged by the scientific mission, but was carried out in a personal capacity."

Tourism is a key source of revenue for the low-lying Maldives, a nation of 1,192 small coral islands and atolls scattered some 800 kilometers (500 miles) across the equator in the Indian Ocean.

Its pristine beaches, clear turquoise waters, and coral reefs attract divers and snorkellers from around the world, who often stay at secluded resorts or on dive boats.

Several fatalities have been reported in recent years, but diving- and water sports-related accidents remain relatively rare.