Five Italian Divers Die After Going Missing in Vaavu Atoll Cave in Maldives

Five Italian scuba divers died after going missing in a cave at Vaavu Atoll in the Maldives, with the first diver’s body found soon after they failed to resurface from a dive at the 60-metre-deep cave.

BBC reported that a member of the diving team said the equipment the divers were found with "was not optimal" and that they were "not using underwater caving gear".

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The BBC also said images from inside the cave were taken by Finnish diver Sami Paakkarinen, who told Italian media "the bodies were all together in one section of the cave".

Euronews said the divers went missing while "attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50 metres," and it described an early reconstruction in which the cave was divided into "three large chambers connected by narrow passages."

Euronews quoted Dan Europe executive Laura Marroni saying, "There was no way out from there," as it described a sandbank that appears to hide the corridor when divers try to return.

CBS News reported Marroni said the divers "may have got lost" in a corridor with a dead end inside the cave complex, and it added that the dead-end corridor is where the four other bodies were found.

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CBS News also said Italy’s foreign ministry reported 25 Italian tourists were on board the "Duke of York" yacht, including the five divers who died.

Euronews said Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani offered condolences to his Maldivian counterpart, saying, "These days of grief for Italy are exacerbated by the news that one of your brave military, Sergeant Major Mohammed Mahdi, has died while attempting to recover the bodies of our fellow Italians," and it added that the tragedy "unites Italy and the Maldives in grief and respect for the victims."

BBC said the Maldivian rescue diver who died while searching for the bodies was named Staff Sgt Mohamed Mahdhee, and it reported that an investigation is ongoing to establish the cause of the accident.

CBS News said authorities in the Maldives are investigating how the Italians were allowed to descend to a depth of 60 meters when the Indian Ocean country permits a maximum depth of 30 meters for tourists.

El Mundo said the Rome Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation into involuntary manslaughter and that autopsies were planned for next week, alongside analysis of equipment including suits, bottles, GoPro cameras, flashlights, computers and mobile phones.

El Mundo also reported that lawyer Stella said "none of the five divers had specific qualifications for cave penetration" and that the University of Genoa stated that this type of immersion and the penetration into that cave were not contemplated in the research plan.