Maldives rescue teams, working with international experts, have successfully recovered the last two bodies of Italian divers trapped inside a deep underwater cave. The total death toll from this severe water tragedy in the Maldives now stands at six, including a marine ecology professor, her daughter, and fellow researchers.
The Maldives Presidential Spokesperson and sources from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs jointly confirmed that officials successfully retrieved the last two Italian divers' bodies from the deep underwater cave, marking the conclusion of a lengthy search operation following the deadliest diving tragedy in the country's history.
The incident occurred on 14 May when a group of five Italian divers lost contact while exploring a deep underwater cave near Vaavu Atoll's coral reef, at the Devana Kandu dive site. Rescue teams recovered the first body on the day of the incident and two more on 20 May, before locating the final two bodies inside the cave at a depth of 60 meters on Wednesday. All bodies have been transferred to the forensic institute in Malé, the Maldives capital.
Reports state that the divers had come to the Maldives on a scientific mission researching soft corals, led by Professor Monica Montefalcone, 51, a marine ecology expert and professor at the University of Genoa, Italy, who had extensive diving experience in Maldivian waters. The deceased also included her daughter Gioorgia, two researchers, and the group's diving instructor.
However, Italy's local newspaper Corriere della Sera cited a statement from the University of Genoa saying, "The deep diving activity that caused this accident was not part of the university's approved scientific mission plan but was a private activity. The permit application to Maldivian authorities was likely made outside the scope of the university's endorsed mission."
The search operation was extremely difficult and hazardous due to the depth involved. On Saturday, Sergeant Major Mohamed Muhudhee, a rescue officer from the Maldives National Defence Force, died from decompression sickness while attempting to recover a body from underwater.
Following the Maldives officer's death, local authorities temporarily suspended search operations. The Italian government then coordinated the formation of an international rescue team, including deep-diving experts from Finland, who assisted in successfully recovering the remaining bodies. For the final recovery, divers carefully followed strict decompression stop protocols to safely bring the body to the surface.
Currently, the Maldives police and relevant agencies are urgently investigating the actual cause of death, focusing on diving beyond legal limits. Maldives law prohibits tourists from diving deeper than 30 meters, yet the victims’ bodies were found inside a cave at a depth of 60 meters. Authorities have preliminarily suspended the operating license of the diving tour boat used by the Italian group pending official investigation results.
Tourism and diving industries are vital economic lifelines for the Maldives, an island nation comprising over 1,192 small coral islands scattered across the Indian Ocean. Although water-related accidents have been reported in recent years, incidents of this severe nature remain extremely rare in the Maldives.
. Reuters/ AFP