Maldives rescuers search for four drowned Italian divers

He said tourists were not supposed to dive below 30m.

“There will be a separate investigation into how these divers went below the permitted depth, but our focus right now is on the search and rescue,” Shareef said.

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

They were diving in Vaavu Atoll, about a 90-minute speedboat ride from the capital, Male.

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

The low-lying Maldives, a nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered some 800km (500 miles) across the equator in the Indian Ocean, is a luxury holiday destination popular with divers, who often stay at secluded resorts or on liveaboard dive boats.

The Italian diver whose body was recovered on Thursday has not been publicly identified.

The Maldivian National Defence Force, which is coordinating the operation, said the body was found in a cave at a depth of 60m.

The Italians were on a liveaboard dive boat, and the alarm was raised when they failed to return as scheduled, police said.

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

Local media reports said at least 112 tourists had died in marine-related incidents in the archipelago over the past six years, including 42 in diving or snorkelling accidents.