Search team finds bodies of 4 Italian divers dead in Maldives accident
Updated ,first published
An expert team has found the bodies of four missing Italian scuba divers who died in an accident in underwater caves, Maldives authorities said on Monday (Tuesday AEDT).
The bodies are believed to be found deep in an underwater cave on a Maldivian island.
“This marks a significant milestone in an operation that continues to be technically challenging, emotionally challenging and operationally complex,” the DAN Europe divers network said in a statement.
The Finnish team arrived on Sunday after the incident at Vaavu Atoll, where Italian divers were exploring caves at a depth of 50 meters on Thursday.
A military diver who participated in the search died of decompression sickness on Saturday, prompting authorities to temporarily suspend rescue efforts in difficult weather and sea conditions.
Mohamed Hussain Shareef, chief spokesman for the Office of the President of the Maldives, told Reuters that authorities were investigating the procedures before diving.
The body of a fifth Italian diver was found on Friday at a depth of about 60 meters inside a cave structure, the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) said in a statement last week, adding that it assumed others might also be in the cave.
Earlier, Maldives presidential spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef said three Finnish divers who specialize in deep diving and cave diving arrived in the archipelago country and joined the Maldives coast guard in a meeting aimed at mapping a new search strategy.
A group of five Italian divers are thought to have died while exploring a cave at a depth of about 50 meters in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, according to a statement from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30 meters. The body of one of the divers was found last week.
Maldivian National Defense Force member Mohamed Mahudhee died of underwater decompression sickness during initial search and rescue efforts.
Mahudhee was buried with military honors on Saturday night at a funeral ceremony attended by President Mohamed Muizzu. The diver was part of the group that briefed Muizzu on the rescue plan when he visited the search area on Friday.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that search operations on Saturday involved eight local divers working in shifts to locate the bodies. The first teams had already dived to locate and mark the entrance to the cave system where the Italians disappeared. The cause of the deaths is under investigation.
The victims were identified as Monica Montefalcone, a professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; daughter Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.
Benedetti’s body was found near the mouth of the cave on Thursday. Authorities believe the remaining four entered the cave.
Montefalcone and Oddenino were in the Maldives on an official scientific mission to monitor marine environments and study the effects of climate change on tropical biodiversity, the University of Genoa said in a statement on Friday. However, it was stated that the scuba diving activity in which the fatal accident occurred was not part of the planned research and was conducted privately.
The statement also stated that the other two victims (student Sommacal and recent graduate Gualtieri) were not involved in the scientific mission.
Carlo Sommacal, Montefalcone’s husband and Giorgia’s father, expressed doubts about the accident, saying “something must have happened down there” given his wife and daughter’s extensive experience.
The Italian tour operator who led the diving trip denied authorizing or having knowledge of the deep dive, which violated local limits, his lawyer told the Italian newspaper. Corriere della Sera on Saturday.
Orietta Stella, representing Albatros Top Boat, said the operator did not know the group planned to descend beyond 30 metres. That threshold requires special permission from Maldivian maritime authorities, he said, and the tour operator “will never allow that.”
Stella added that the dive went well beyond what was planned for a scientific expedition focused on coral sampling at standard depths. He said the victims were experienced divers, but the equipment used appeared to be standard recreational equipment rather than technical equipment suitable for deep cave diving.
Cave diving is a highly technical and dangerous activity that requires special training, equipment and strict safety protocols. In environments where divers cannot go vertically and deeply, risks increase rapidly, especially when conditions are poor. 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.
The Maldives Ministry of Tourism said it has suspended Duke of York’s operating license pending an investigation.
AP and Reuters
