Minister of Defense Hassan Rasheed has stated that all military personnel act with noble purpose while being ready to sacrifice themselves.

While speaking as an honored guest at the National Service graduation ceremony held at Lh. Maafilaafushi, Minister Hassan gestured to the death of Staff Sergeant First Class Mohamed Mahudhy, who attempted to search for the Italian divers who had gone missing on a 60-meter dive into a cave on Thursday.

Hassan stated that since he took on the position of Defense Minister, Mahudhy's courage had come to his attention and that all military personnel are courageous individuals.

"This is what life is like in the military. Officers serve with a noble purpose. It is something that must be apparent in all those who take and uphold their oaths and to show their determination," said the minister.

"We saw such a service yesterday, where Mahudhy left us while acting upon that service."

Minister Hassan went on to say that every Maldivian has to be ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the nation.

Before today's ceremony began, a moment of silence was held in honor of Mahudhy.

Mahudhy passed away yesterday while he was taking part in a search operation in locating the missing Italian tourists who went diving on Thursday via a Vaavu Atoll safari.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu attended Friday's military briefing of the search operation for the missing tourists, with Mahudhy having attended the briefing as well.

The incident occurred near V. Alimathaa, where five people; four Italian tourists and the safari’s diving instructor went missing while they went diving into a cave that was 60 meters deep on Thursday afternoon. One diver's body was recovered, with the remaining four being still unaccounted for.

Authorities said the recovered body was found inside a cave at a depth of around 60 metres (197 feet). Officials believe the other missing divers may also be inside the same cave, which is estimated to extend roughly 200 feet.

As the search and rescue operation was deemed too risky, it was brought to halt after Mahudhy's death. However, three Finnish cave divers with technical expertise have flown into Maldives to conduct operations.