Bodies of Italian divers did not have optimal equipment, says rescuer

Images from a cave where the four Italians were found reveal the difficulty that rescuers had in recovering their bodies.

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Images from inside the cave where the four Italians were discovered earlier this week were taken by Finnish diver Sami Paakkarinen, who told Italian media "the bodies were all together in one section of the cave", which he said was very deep and "very challenging".

The body of the first diver was found soon after the five disappeared in a scuba diving accident at the 60-metre-deep (197ft) cave in Vaavu Atoll.

It took several days before the rest of the group were found deep inside the cave by a team of specialist Finnish and Maldivian divers.

A Maldivian rescue diver died last weekend while searching for the bodies of the group.