The bodies of four Italian tourists who went missing while exploring an underwater cave system in the Maldives have finally been recovered, bringing a tragic end to what is being described as the country’s deadliest diving disaster.
According to reports by the New York Post, the bodies of Monica Montefalcone, 52, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, 20, Muriel Oddenino, 31, and Federico Gualtieri, 31, were discovered on Monday inside Thinwana Kandu, an underwater site widely known among divers as the “Shark Cave”.
The body of their diving instructor, Gianluca Benedetti, 44, had earlier been recovered on Friday.
All five victims were reported missing last Thursday after entering a network of underwater caves in Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, during a deep-sea diving expedition.
The recovery operation was carried out by an elite team of Finnish cave divers specially flown into the Maldives by Divers Alert Network Europe after local authorities struggled to reach depths of nearly 150 metres to access the cave system.
The rescue team included experienced divers Sami Paakkarinen, Jenni Westerlund and Patrik Grönqvist, who were previously involved in the dramatic rescue mission of a Thai youth football team trapped inside a cave in 2018.
Italian authorities said the exact cause of death for the five victims has yet to be confirmed, while efforts to retrieve the bodies safely from the seabed are expected to continue for several more days.
In a further tragic development, Maldives rescue diver Sergeant Major Mohamed Mahudhee also lost his life during the search operation on Saturday, raising the death toll in the incident to six.
Reports also stated that around 20 other Italian tourists were onboard the yacht Duke of York during the incident. They were unharmed and have since returned to Italy.
International media earlier reported that oxygen toxicity caused by extreme diving depths is among the possible factors being investigated in connection with the tragedy.
The shocking incident has sparked renewed discussions within the diving community about the dangers of deep cave exploration, especially in challenging underwater environments with limited escape routes.
