Renowned cave diver Han Ting's body recovered after 18 days

The body of renowned Chinese cave diver Han Ting has been recovered, 18 days after he lost contact with the support team during a dive in Du'an, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, local authorities said on Wednesday.

The emergency management bureau in Du'an said that a smart underwater robot retrieved the body and brought it to shore at 6:33 pm, and the body was confirmed to be Han's. The bureau offered condolences and said that the investigation is underway.

According to previous media reports, Han, 47, was undergoing a training session on Oct 7, preparing for a challenge of the world record for deep cave diving. In May, Han dived 277 meters in the same cave, setting an Asian record and just 9 meters shy of the world record.

A search and rescue operation began after Han failed to surface on the next day, and professional teams have been called for all over China. A remotely operated underwater vehicle found a body, which was stuck between cave walls about 110 meters deep on Oct 11, and it was suspected to be Han's, but effort to retrieve it had proved extremely difficult due to complex underwater conditions.

During his 17 years of career as a diver, Han has conducted missions for the country's shipwreck archaeology and searches for the remains of Red Army soldiers. He also voluntarily took part in many missions to look for missing divers. According to the China Exploration and Research Society, he is China's first all-around diving coach in scuba diving, free diving and technical diving.