Bodies of Four Italian Divers Found in Maldives Cave System in Vaavu Atoll

Rescuers located the bodies of four Italian divers deep inside an underwater cave system in Vaavu Atoll in the Maldives, Italy’s Foreign Ministry said Monday, four days after the divers were reported missing on Thursday.

“Italy’s foreign minister says divers found bodies of 4 Italians in Maldives sea cave Italy’s foreign minister says divers found bodies of 4 Italians in Maldives sea cave MALE, Maldives (AP) — Italy’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that rescuers have located the bodies of four Italian divers deep inside an underwater cave in an atoll in the Maldives, four days after they were reported missing”

AP News

Maldives government spokesman Ahmed Shaam said the four bodies were found “pretty much together” in the cave’s third segment, which he described as “the largest part,” and officials said recovery crews planned to retrieve two bodies Tuesday and the remaining two the following day.

AP News

The search had resumed on Monday after being suspended following the death of a local military diver during the mission to try to reach the trapped divers, with Maldives presidential spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef saying the diver died of underwater decompression sickness after being transferred to a hospital in the capital on Saturday.

Officials said the divers disappeared while exploring at a depth of about 160 feet, and the recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 98 feet, while the BBC said the Italians were found inside a 60-metre-deep cave in Vaavu Atoll.

The BBC also confirmed that a Maldivian rescue diver died on Saturday while searching for the bodies, and it said the four bodies were located in the cave’s third section, the furthest from the entrance.

The BBC reported that two of the Italian divers—Prof Monica Montefalcone and research fellow Muriel Oddenino from the University of Genoa—were in the Maldives looking at the impact of climate change on biodiversity, and it identified Giorgia Sommacal and Federico Gualtieri as part of the diving group.

In a separate account, El Mundo said the marine research permit shown by Mohamed Hussain Shareef did not include the names of two of the five divers swallowed by the depths, and it said the cave dive was not mentioned either.

BBC

El Mundo also quoted Shareef saying the Università di Genova team had presented a specific research proposal on soft corals and the composition of the Maldives reef systems that the Marine Research Department green-lighted, and it said the 30-meter limit applies to recreational dives while researchers can propose deeper dives.

The BBC said Shareef confirmed Montefalcone’s team had permission for scientific work valid until Sunday that allowed them to descend to 50 metres, and it reported that the University of Genoa told the BBC it did not give approval for any kind of deep-sea dive as part of the team’s scientific research.

The BBC further reported that Shareef said there was no mention of the cave in their proposal, and it named the Maldivian rescue diver as Staff Sgt Mohamed Mahdhee.

Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said they would do everything possible to bring home the bodies and offered condolences for Mahdhee’s death, while the Independent said the cause of the deaths remains under investigation after the group entered the water at Vaavu Atoll on Thursday morning and were reported missing when they failed to resurface.

“Five Italian divers died while exploring a cave in Maldives on Thursday, prompting a recovery mission that has already claimed the life of a military diver”

CNN

The Independent described how a high-risk operation to recover the bodies had been suspended after Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defence Force, died of underwater decompression sickness after being transferred to a hospital in the capital on Saturday.

The BBC said the incident is believed to be the worst single diving accident in the tiny Indian Ocean nation, a popular tourist destination because of its string of coral islands, and it quoted Shareef saying “Eight rescue divers went into the water today.”

The Independent reported that Dive master Maurizio Uras suggested “oxygen toxicity” inside the cave might have contributed to the incident, and it quoted pulmonologist Claudio Micheletto saying it was likely that “something went wrong with the tanks” during the dive.

El Mundo added that the ship “Duke of York” had problems with its tourist license, and it said the investigation would clarify how deep the divers went since the cave entrance is at 47 metres and the caves reach 60 metres.