Five Italians die in Maldives cave-diving tragedy

Five Italians have died in a scuba diving accident in the Maldives, Italy's foreign ministry said on Thursday, with security forces in the Indian Ocean archipelago recovering one body.

The string of coral islands is a luxury holiday destination popular with divers, who often stay at remote resorts or on liveaboard dive boats.

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"Following an accident that occurred during a scuba diving trip, five Italian nationals have died in Vaavu Atoll, in the Maldives," Rome's foreign ministry said in a brief statement.

"The divers are believed to have died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50 metres."

The University of Genoa said the victims included a marine biology professor, her daughter and two young researchers.

They failed to return from a deep cave-diving trip in Vaavu Atoll, south of the capital, Male.

Local officials said it was the worst single diving accident in the nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered some 800 kilometres (500 miles) across the equator in the Indian Ocean.

Aircraft and speedboats were deployed for a major search after the group of five was reported missing on Thursday afternoon, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) said in a statement.

"One body has been found among five divers who went diving in Vaavu Atoll," the statement said.

"The body was found inside a cave. It is believed that the remaining four divers are also inside the same cave, which extends to a depth of about 60 metres (200 feet)."

Police said the weather was rough in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday and there was a yellow warning for passenger boats and fishermen.

The MNDF said a coastguard vessel was in the area coordinating the search operation throughout the night. Additional coastguard divers were being sent to assist in the search.

Diving and water-sport-related accidents appear to be relatively rare in the South Asian nation, although several fatal incidents have been reported in recent years.

A British woman tourist died while diving in December, and her distraught 71-year-old husband died a few days later after falling ill.

A 26-year-old Japanese tourist went missing after a diving expedition near the capital in June.

Local media reports said at least 112 tourists had died in marine-related incidents in the archipelago in the past six years, with 42 of them falling victim to diving or snorkelling accidents.