Harrowing four-word message written in chalk sparked 'shark cave' rescue mission for divers

All of the bodies of the Italian scuba divers who died off the Maldives have now been recovered from an underwater cave.

The five who died are University of Genoa ecology professor Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, research fellow Muriel Oddenino, marine biology graduate Federico Gualtieri and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.

Maldives rescue diver Mohamed Mahdhee also died in an earlier attempt to recover the bodies, while a rescue team from Finland have now completed their work.

Local rescue teams had found Benedetti's body first, and the trio of Finnish divers on Monday (18 May) started their search of an area known as the 'shark cave'.

With equipment to help them stay underwater for longer than regular scuba divers and to maintain visibility in the deep cave they were able to reach the entrance of the Dhekunu Kandu cave, and once they surfaced they wrote on a chalkboard the message: "We found all four."

Italian diver Giorgia Sommacal

Federico Gualtieri died in the incident (Facebook)

Divers Alert Network Europe (DAN Europe) said the rescue team had found the four remaining bodies in a remote part of the cave, and there had been an 'obvious attempt to penetrate' the walls, but it seems the Italian divers had not been able to get through.

With the message that all four remaining bodies had been found delivered, subsequent dives on the Tuesday and Wednesday recovered the four from the 'shark cave'.

The remains of Montefalcone and Gualtieri were recovered on the Tuesday while yesterday's dive brought back Sommacal and Oddenino.

Professor Monica Montefalcone died alongside her daughter, two researchers and a diving instructor (University of Genoa)

Diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti also died during the scuba trip (Albatros Top Boat)

Today the rescue team are making one final dive to remove their guide lines and recover their equipment from the cave.

They also plan to gather as much mapping information as possible to hand over to authorities in the Maldives.

DAN Europe's CEO, Laura Marroni, told La Repubblica that the Italian divers may have taken the wrong tunnel on their way out of the caves and become trapped in a dead end where there wasn't a way out.

She said that the rescue team were able to get 'excellent visibility' only with the help of artificial lighting, and that without the specialised equipment there was little light to navigate with.

Muriel Oddenino was also one of the victims (Facebook/Muriel Oddenino)

Mohamed Mahdhee died trying to recover the divers' bodies (Maldives government)

Rescuers found a corridor in the caves that was around 30 metres long and three metres wide that led to a second underwater chamber where there was no natural light.

Authorities are also investigating the equipment the Italian divers had taken with them and the possibility that a strong current had pulled them into the second chamber of the cave where they were trapped and died.