On Saturday, May 16, a military diver participating in the search for four missing Italian divers in the Maldives tragically lost his life, prompting authorities to temporarily halt this risky rescue mission. The underwater cave exploration accident has so far claimed the lives of five Italians and one rescue personnel.
According to reports from the Associated Press, a team of five Italian divers, believed to have perished during an expedition last Thursday, May 7, in a submerged cave approximately 50 meters (160 feet) deep in the Vaavu Atoll of the Maldives. Local recreational diving in the Maldives is restricted to a depth of only 30 meters (98 feet).
Mohamed Hussain Shareef, spokesperson for the Maldivian President, stated that Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldives National Defence Force, suffered a severe case of decompression sickness while carrying out the rescue mission and was urgently evacuated to the capital hospital, where he was pronounced dead. In light of this, authorities have decided to suspend the search efforts.
Shareef mentioned, “The sacrifice of this diver truly underscores the challenging nature of this mission.” He added that authorities are awaiting the arrival of three Finnish experts proficient in deep-sea and cave diving to reassess and adjust the search strategy.
Mahudhee is set to be buried with military honors on Saturday evening, with President Mohamed Muizzu personally attending the funeral.
As per information provided by the Maldivian government, the identities of the five Italian victims have been confirmed. Gianluca Benedetti’s body was discovered near the cave entrance last Thursday, leading authorities to speculate that the remaining four had ventured further into the cave dead-end.
The other four missing individuals are: Monica Montefalcone, Associate Professor of Ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter Giorgia Sommacal; Federico Gualtieri, a recent graduate in marine biology; and researcher Muriel Oddenino.
In a statement released last Friday, the University of Genoa clarified that Montefalcone and Oddenino were engaged in an official scientific research mission monitoring the marine environment in the Maldives. However, the fatal accident during this diving expedition was not part of the planned research and was conducted privately. Student Sommacal and graduate Gualtieri were also not involved in this scientific mission.
Carlo Sommacal, husband of Montefalcone, conveyed to the media that his wife adhered strictly to diving disciplines and would never engage in reckless behavior, suggesting that “something unexpected must have happened down there.”
Representative lawyer Orietta Stella of the Italian travel agency Albatros Top Boat stated on Saturday that the agency had no knowledge of this extreme deep-sea diving expedition and would “never allow such an activity.”
Stella mentioned that depths exceeding 30 meters require special permission from Maldivian maritime authorities. Despite the victims’ extensive experience, it seems they were using standard recreational diving equipment at the time, rather than specialized technical gear suitable for cave diving.
Diving experts believe depths exceeding 40 meters qualify as technical diving. The complex terrain inside underwater caves, coupled with the potential for sediment to create murky clouds, can drastically reduce visibility, making divers prone to getting disoriented in the closed environment where direct vertical ascent may not be possible.
The Italian Foreign Ministry noted that the cave in question consists of three interconnected large chambers through narrow passageways, with the rescue team having explored only two of them thus far. Currently, approximately 20 other Italian tourists aboard the same diving vessel, the “Duke of York,” have been confirmed safe. The Maldivian Ministry of Tourism has suspended the vessel’s operating license pending investigation.