The bodies of two Italian divers who went missing after diving in an underwater cave in V. Atoll, have been recovered.

According to the Maldives Police Service and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), the bodies of a man and a woman were found inside the cave where they had dived.

Officials said the divers were located during a search operation carried out by Finnish divers and MNDF teams. The bodies were later taken to Malé City.

The divers were found about 30 meters underwater. Police officers then moved the bodies to a speedboat from a depth of seven meters.

Earlier, an MNDF officer involved in the rescue mission was also found dead. Search operations for the remaining missing divers have been temporarily suspended.