High-risk search for bodies suspended after diving accident
Muhammed Sharuhan And Giada Zampano
Male, Maldives: A high-risk operation to retrieve the bodies of four Italian divers from the depths of an underwater cave in the Maldives has been put on hold as rough seas repeatedly thwarted efforts.
Speaking a day after the body of the fifth member of the diving group was found, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said everything possible would be done to bring the victims home despite the bad weather conditions.
Speaking at a political event in Italy on Friday (Rome time), Tajani said: “Unfortunately, the search has been stopped due to bad weather conditions, but we will do everything possible to recover the bodies of our compatriots.”
Five divers were trapped in a sea cave about 50 meters deep off Alimathaa island in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday.
The cause of the deaths continues to be investigated. There is speculation that a mixture of gases in the victims’ diving tanks may have been behind the accident. A diving tank for recreational diving carries a mixture of 21 percent oxygen and 79 percent nitrogen. Recreational diving is normally limited to a depth of 40 metres. The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30 meters.
According to the Maldivian government, the victims were identified as Monica Montefalcone, a professor of ecology at the University of Genoa, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, marine biologist Federico Gualtieri, researcher Muriel Oddenino and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.
Benedetti’s body was found Thursday.
Montefalcone’s husband, Carlo Sommacal, said he believed something unexpected must have happened and ruled out the woman’s recklessness.
“Something must have happened,” he told Italian television channel Rete 4. He said his wife was a disciplined diver who carefully weighed the risks before each descent. He remembered sometimes telling her: “I can do this, you can’t.”
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the cave into which five divers entered was divided into three large rooms connected by narrow passages. Rescuers searched two of the three rooms, but the search was limited due to oxygen and decompression considerations.
About 20 Italians on the ship “Duke of York” on the same expedition were also safe. The Italian embassy in Colombo was providing assistance to those on board and contacted the Red Crescent, offering to send volunteers to provide psychological assistance.
Cave diving is a highly technical and dangerous activity that requires special training, equipment and strict safety protocols. Risks increase sharply in overhead environments and at depth, especially when conditions deteriorate. Experts say it’s easy to get lost or disoriented inside caves, especially since sediment clouds can sharply reduce visibility.
Diving at 50 meters also exceeds the maximum depth recommended for recreational divers by most established scuba diving certification bodies; Depths above 40 meters are considered technical diving and require special training and equipment.
Sommacal said his wife survived the tsunami while diving off the coast of Kenya in 2004, surfaced despite the danger with other experienced divers, and later returned to diving after a long recovery from serious health complications. “He had two lives; one on land and the other in his environment, which was in the water,” he said.
Maldivian presidential spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef said eight divers participated in Friday’s search and worked in pairs, probing the depths and drawing a map to continue the mission on Saturday.
He said Benedetti’s body was found near the cave mouth and authorities believe the remaining four entered the cave.
Environmental organization Greenpeace Italia remembered Montefalcone as a passionate advocate of marine conservation, saying it would greatly miss his “professionalism and advice” and “that special light in his eyes when he talked about the wonders of the sea and the importance of protecting them”.
The National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology expressed its condolences for all the victims. Montefalcone is widely known for his work studying and protecting the marine environment.
