On Saturday, 16 May 2026, Staff Sergeant Mohamed Mahudhee of the MNDF Coast Guard entered the waters near Alimathaa in Vaavu Atoll as part of a dangerous recovery mission to retrieve the bodies of missing Italian tourists believed to be trapped deep inside an underwater cave. The operation had already become extremely difficult due to rough weather, strong currents, and the depth of the cave, which lay around 55–60 meters underwater. Mahudhee, along with other divers, went under in an effort to