SIKKA, Indonesia — Three divers who remained missing after a diving incident off Flores were found alive on Monday, bringing a search operation involving two Irish nationals and an Indonesian dive guide to a successful end.

Irish nationals Dervla Mulligan, 28, and Darragh Mc Kiernan, 27, were found along with Indonesian dive guide Frederik Horimpun, 39, after spending the night at sea following a dive near Panga Batang Island in Sikka, East Nusa Tenggara.

The discovery came a day after Austrian diver Patricia Retter, 42, who had also been reported missing, was found alive by local fishermen on Sunday afternoon.

According to the Maumere Search and Rescue Office, the two Irish divers were found floating at sea approximately 3.17 nautical miles from the location of the incident.

They were reported to be in good condition but exhausted after spending a day and night in the water. The divers had remained afloat using their diving equipment.

The three rescued divers were taken aboard a Maumere SAR vessel before being brought back to shore.

The incident began at around 10 a.m. on Sunday, October 4, when six people — four foreign nationals and two Indonesian guides — went diving in waters around Panga Batang Island.

The group was divided into two teams, each accompanied by a guide.

Four members of the group later became separated during the dive, triggering a search and rescue operation involving boats and a thermal drone.

Retter was the first of the missing divers to be located. Fishermen found her alive at around 4:30 p.m. on Sunday in waters between Babi Island and Nangahale.

The search for the remaining three continued into a second day before rescuers located them on Monday.

East Nusa Tenggara Police said all three were found alive following a joint operation involving search and rescue personnel and other agencies.

With their rescue, all six people who took part in the diving trip have now been accounted for and are safe.

The successful rescue brought an end to an operation that had continued overnight in waters off Sikka, where teams had been searching the surface and surrounding area for the missing divers.