A rescuer died while searching for the bodies of four Italians who perished in a scuba diving accident in the Maldives, UNN reports, citing the BBC.
Details
Staff Sergeant Mohamed Mahdy was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and later died from his injuries, a government spokesperson told the BBC on Saturday.
Five Italians died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of about 50m (164ft). Currently, it is believed that only one body has been recovered from a cave at a depth of about 60m (197ft).
The incident is believed to be the worst scuba diving accident in the tiny Indian Ocean nation, a popular tourist destination known for its network of coral islands.
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu visited Vaavu Atoll on Saturday to oversee the search operations.
"Eight rescue divers submerged today. When they surfaced, they realized that Mahdy had not come up," Mohamed Hussain Shareef, a spokesperson for the Maldivian government, told the BBC.
The other divers immediately submerged again and found Mahdy unconscious.
The Maldivian military described the operation as high-risk due to adverse weather conditions.
In addition
The publication notes that the four Italian divers were part of a team from the University of Genoa, including ecology professor Monica Montefalcone, her daughter, and two researchers. The fifth person was the boat's operations manager and a diving instructor. According to local media reports, the five entered the water at Vaavu Atoll on Thursday morning and went missing when they failed to resurface later.
Police reported bad weather in the area, approximately 100km south of the capital, Malé. A yellow alert had been issued for passenger boats and fishermen.
Shareef said that amateur divers are only permitted to dive to a depth of 30m, and it remains unclear why the Italians entered a cave located 60m underwater.