Rescuers located the bodies of four Italian divers deep inside an underwater cave in the Maldives, days after the group vanished during a dangerous dive far beyond recreational limits, Italy’s Foreign Ministry said Monday.

Officials said Finnish cave-diving specialists found the bodies in the innermost section of the cave system in Vaavu Atoll, where the divers disappeared Thursday while exploring at a depth of about 160 feet. The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 98 feet.

“As was previously thought, the four bodies were found inside the cave, not only inside the cave but well inside the cave into the third segment of the cave, which is the largest part,” Maldives government spokesman Ahmed Shaam said, adding the victims were found “pretty much together.”

The Thinwana Kandu cave system where the bodies were found is known locally as “shark cave.”

RESCUE OPERATION FREES INJURED MAN TRAPPED 130 FEET UNDERGROUND IN ITALIAN CAVE

Recovery crews plan to retrieve two bodies Tuesday and the remaining two the following day, officials said.

The discovery came after authorities resumed the search following the death of a Maldivian military diver involved in the rescue mission. Mohamed Mahdi died Saturday from decompression sickness after attempting to reach the trapped divers.

A fifth Italian diver, identified earlier as a diving instructor, was previously found dead outside the cave.

BAGPIPER DIES DOING POPULAR VACATION ATTRACTION DAYS BEFORE MISSING SON’S REMAINS FOUND IN BACKYARD TREEHOUSE

The specialized Finnish team used advanced closed-circuit rebreather systems, allowing for longer and deeper dives in the cave’s confined environment.

Rough seas and hazardous underwater conditions repeatedly delayed search efforts as crews mapped and marked the cave entrance before pushing deeper inside.

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Authorities continue to investigate the situation and what led to the divers’ deaths.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Published on 18/05/2026 – 15:31 GMT+2•Updated
17:16

The bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has criticised the overwhelmingly male nature of peace negotiation teams, linking it to contemporary diplomacy’s tendency toward short-term results.

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“This is a bigger problem we see around the world with different peace talks when we see that they don’t actually address the issues of long-standing peace,” she said at a press conference in Tallinn, Estonia on Sunday.

The ceasefires many talks yield, she said, too often simply declare hostilities over without resolving the “underlying issues” that perpetuate future violence.

Another problem, she said, is the lack of female input.

“There are also studies that show that when women are part of the negotiations, these peace (efforts) last longer,” Kallas expanded, adding that “the picture that we saw from the US China talks, (was) a lot of masculinity in the room”.

“Women have a role,” she said.

Various studies and international bodies, including the UN Security Council, argue that women’s participation in conflict resolution improves outcomes, but mediators and negotiating parties often leave women out of their teams.

According to data compiled by the Council on Foreign Relations, women represented only 16 percent of negotiators in active peace processes led or co-led by the United Nations in 2022.

Security and defence analyst Iana Maisuradze of the European Policy Centre think tank argues that the EU is a firm supporter of the UN resolution calling for more female participation during conflict resolution – and that it is not “sexist argument” to believe that women are beneficial to negotiations. She told Euronews the data backs this up.

“The argument is that women focus on things that male-dominated negotiators are not focusing on such as education, health, victims’ rights, social reconciliation (and) community: things that really bring people together rather than a zero-sum game, which men tend to do,” Maisuradze said.

“Having women at table works because we also bring different perspectives to the resolution of the conflict, and also to the implementation of peace agreements.”

A seat at the table

Kallas’ comments came amid wider chatter in the Belgian capital regarding whether the EU should have a seat at the table for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine – and who should represent the bloc if so.

Putin recently floated appointing former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as the EU’s lead negotiator in potential peace talks on Ukraine. This notion was widely dismissed by European heads of state, and the discussion of who Europe’s mouthpiece should be continues.

Diplomatic sources in Ukraine have said that Russia would “never” accept a woman as lead negotiator.

A diplomatic source in Brussels reiterated this, saying there is no possibility a female figure is being considered as part of the discussions. But another source in the Belgian capital told Euronews that “equality is an important factor”.

Regardless of their differences on the gender issue, most EU officials argue that appointing any envoy before a major European Council (EUCO) summit in June could be unrealistic.

European Commission spokesperson for foreign affairs Anitta Hipper said in response to a question by Euronews on Monday that Kallas is a “feminist” and “has a lot of practice back home”. She was the first female prime minister of Estonia from 2021 to 2024.

Hipper said the Commission could not comment on whether Russia would want a woman at the table, but reiterated that European heads of state will meet in Limassol in Cyprus in the coming weeks to discuss what form any future talks with Ukraine, Russia and Europe might take before June’s EUCO.

“What will be discussed is what our position is in terms of the demands and the ask and what unity we have in demanding our lists of asks from Russia,” Hipper said.

“This is something that we will be looking into – into the what, and not into the who.”