Husband of doomed dive group leader says ‘something must have happened down there’ as mystery surrounds why the five attempted to explore ‘cave so deep even divers with best equipment don’t try’

A man whose marine biologist wife died during a diving trip in the Maldives fears “something must have happened down there” as mystery surrounds five deaths.

The group from Italy set out to explore the island of Vaavu on Thursday morning but never resurfaced.

The decision to reach the cave was questioned by experts and three main elements were raised:

First, a weather warning was issued. High winds can whip up waves and displace sand and dirt, obscuring visibility.

Secondly, tourists are not expected to dive below 30 meters. The cave is approximately 60 meters below the surface.

And finally, the cave itself is known to be quite difficult to reach. Maldives government spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef said the cave was ‘so deep that even the best-equipped divers do not attempt to approach it’.

“There will be a separate investigation into how these divers went below the permissible depth, but our focus right now is on search and rescue efforts,” he added.

One of the victims was 51-year-old Monica Montefalcone, a respected marine biologist, television personality and professor of Tropical Marine Ecology and Underwater Science at the University of Genoa. His 22-year-old daughter Giorgia Sommacal also died.

Montefalcone’s husband and Giorgia’s father, Carlo Sommacal, broke his silence after their deaths.

Devastated, Sommacal insisted ‘my wife is one of the best divers in the world’ and said he would not endanger anyone in the group.

‘He would never risk our daughter’s life or anyone else’s life… something must have happened there,’ he said.

‘Maybe there was something wrong with one of them, maybe the oxygen tanks, I have no idea.’

The other three victims were identified as Muriel Oddenino from Turin, Gianluca Benedetti from Padua and Federico Gualtieri from Omegna.

The group boarded the ‘luxury’ Duke of York yacht, a foreign-run liveaboard dive ship, and disappeared near Alimatha, one of the island’s most popular diving spots.

The five divers were thought to be exploring caves at a depth of 164 ft when they went missing..

‘The weather is not suitable for diving and we are facing very rough seas. “We have deployed our largest Coast Guard ship to the region and Italian diplomats are also in the region,” government spokesman Shareef said.

Maldivian authorities launched a major rescue operation after the incident on Thursday; It deployed boats, planes and diving teams to search the area.

Rescuers found a body about 60 meters below the surface on Thursday, and an initial search failed to locate the remaining four divers, who were thought to be in the same cave.

According to the information obtained, the first body found after the tragic dive of Italian divers in the Maldives yesterday belonged to Gianluca Benedetti.

Search teams attempted a second dive on Friday but to no avail.

Italy’s ambassador was on a search vessel and the Maldives could seek international assistance if necessary.

The search for the remaining four bodies will continue on Saturday.

Italian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Damiano Francovigh told broadcaster SkyTg24: ‘The Maldivian Coast Guard carried out a dive and entered this cave, which they told me was 62 meters deep.’

Francovigh, who is also in charge of the Maldives and flew to the capital Malé, added: ‘This is a particularly complex dive because the cave is divided into three separate, interconnected sections. ‘

‘In this incident, Maldivian divers were only able to get into the first two, after which they had to give time to depressurize and have yet to detect the bodies of the other Italian divers.

‘They plan to do another dive, but only tomorrow.

‘The weather conditions in the Maldives are very bad right now; There are strong winds and heavy rain.

‘They also reported strong currents, all of which unfortunately makes operations more difficult.’

Conditions were described as unfavorable at the time, with a yellow weather alert in effect for passenger boats and fishermen.

Meanwhile, the police have launched an investigation, but the causes of death are currently unknown.

While police investigated whether bad weather conditions affected divers’ visibility, authorities did not rule out many scenarios.

According to Italian news outlet La Repubblica, none of the five divers surfaced, suggesting the group may have gotten lost in an underwater cave.

Due to poor weather conditions, low light and poor visibility, they may have lost their bearings, panicked and perhaps run out of air trying to find their way out.

Police also did not rule out the possibility that one of the five men was trapped, while the others may have become breathless or panicked as they tried to free their colleagues.

Diving experts also speculate on various hypotheses.

According to local media reports, one of the most accepted hypotheses by the coast guard and experts is oxygen poisoning. This phenomenon occurs when the tank’s mixing is insufficient, making the oxygen toxic at certain depths.

‘There are many risks at 50 meters depth of the sea; This is a real tragedy,’ says Alfonso Bolognini, president of the Italian Association of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine.

There are several hypotheses we can make at the moment: An inadequate respiratory mixture can create a hyperoxic crisis when there is an increase in the partial pressure of oxygen in the tissues and blood plasma, which can cause neurological problems.

‘In a cave at a depth of 50 meters, one problem for a diver and a panic attack for another is enough,’ he adds, and continues: ‘This turbulence causes the water to become cloudy and can impair vision.

‘In these situations the panic component can even lead to fatal errors.’

The Duke of York’s yacht company supplies nitrox, a breathing mixture of nitrogen and oxygen, for scuba diving, as stated on its official website.

It is also unclear whether the Italians’ dive to depths of over 160 ft was regulated, according to the Maldives National Defense Force.

Meanwhile, it turned out that there was no local guide to accompany the group as they entered the cave, in accordance with Maldivian law.

Investigators are also trying to determine whether the group used the ‘Ariadne rope’, a rope used by divers to help them stay close together while exploring caves and find the entrance and exit of caverns.

In some caves, the use of rope is mandatory.

The tragedy in Italy sent shockwaves through the academic world.

Born in Milan, Montefalcone was working at Distav, Department of Earth Sciences. He was the scientific director of the island monitoring campaign in the Maldives.

His department described him as ‘the most experienced, the best, the most competent’.

Montefalcone survived the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that hit the Maldives.

Her daughter Giorgia, who completed a degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Genoa, inherited her mother’s passion for marine life and diving.

Oddenino, a 31-year-old marine biologist and ecologist, was a colleague of Montefalcone.

He was an experienced diver and wrote scientific publications. She was described as ‘sweet and sensitive’ by a loved one.

Benedetti, 44, was an operations manager, diving instructor and boat captain.

After working in banking and finance for several years, he turned his passion for diving into a full-time career and moved to the Maldives in 2017.

He was operations manager and captain on the Duke of York, the diving yacht the group used for the expedition.

The Duke of York’s operator, Albatros, was described by Top Boat as ‘energetic, extremely sporty and fond of reading, classical cinema and chess’.

Speaking about her son’s tragic death, Benedetti’s mother told Italian news outlet Gazzettino: ‘I heard the news from the embassy. ‘I can’t say anything and you can only imagine the pain.’

Gualtieri, 31, was a scuba diving instructor and had recently graduated from the University of Genoa with a degree in marine biology and ecology.

He had previously praised his professor Montefalcone, saying: ‘Since I met him, he has always been my guide, encouraging me to follow my dreams and passions.’

His girlfriend Noemi De Luca paid tribute to him on social media, saying: ‘Three years together but always and forever in each other’s hearts. ‘You will always be in my heart.’

She added: ‘Know that I am always proud of you, I am proud of you and I always will be.’

Local officials said it was the single worst diving accident in the country.

Maldives Tourism Minister Mohamed Ameen said coast guards and security forces were investigating remote seas where divers were reported missing on Thursday afternoon.

“I am deeply saddened by the tragic deep diving accident that occurred today at Vaavu Atoll,” Ameen said in a statement.

‘The coastguard and all relevant authorities are actively participating in the search and rescue operation.’

The Duke of York’s operator declined to comment when approached for comment.

The Rome prosecutor’s office launched an investigation into the deaths of five Italians.

Made up of 1,192 small coral islands scattered about 500 miles along the equator in the Indian Ocean, the Maldives is a luxury resort popular with divers who often stay in secluded resorts or on dive boats.

Local regulations allow dives to a maximum depth of 98 feet, but experienced professionals have been known to go deeper.

Accidents related to diving and water sports are relatively rare in the South Asian country, although a number of fatal incidents have been reported in recent years.

In December, a British female tourist died while diving, and her distraught 71-year-old husband also died a few days later after falling ill.

The 26-year-old Japanese tourist disappeared after a diving trip near the capital in June.

Local media reported last year that at least 112 tourists had died in maritime-related incidents in the archipelago in the last five years, 42 of whom died in diving or snorkeling accidents.