The remains of 4 Italian divers killed in a Maldives cave dive have been repatriated

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) - The remains of four Italian divers who died deep inside an underwater cave earlier this month while diving in the Maldives were repatriated early Saturday, a Maldivian government spokesperson said.

The four coffins arrived at Milan's Malpensa Airport in the middle of the day. The bodies were taken to a morgue and autopsies were due to begin on Monday, according to Italian news agency LaPresse.

Five Italian divers went missing on May 14 while exploring the cave about 50 meters (160 feet) in Vaavu Atoll. The body of their Italian diving instructor was recovered outside the cave at the time and has already been returned home.

A high-risk operation to recover the bodies faced hurdles and was initially suspended after Mohamed Mahudhee, a Maldivian military diver who was part of the recovery team, was killed. Three Finnish expert deep and cave divers joined the mission and located the four bodies last week in the innermost chamber of the cave at a depth of around 60 meters (200 feet). The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30 meters (98 feet).

Maldives President's Spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef said Saturday two investigations were initiated; one into the death of the five divers and the other probing how Mahudhee died while on duty. Shareef also said Italy agreed to share any findings of autopsies on the repatriated bodies.

The victims have been identified as Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.

Government spokesperson Ahmed Shaam said earlier the four bodies were found "pretty much together."

While the divers had a permit, authorities didn't know from their proposal the exact location of the cave they were exploring, and at least two of the dead were not on the list of researchers that had been submitted, according to Maldivian authorities.