The deaths of five scuba divers in the Maldives have raised fresh questions about what unfolded deep beneath the Indian Ocean, as new information comes to light about the doomed cave dive.
Authorities in the island nation are continuing a difficult underwater recovery operation today (Friday, May 15), after one member of the group was found yesterday.
According to official updates, five Italian citizens—marine biologist Monica Montefalcone, 51; her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, 22; Muriel Oddenino of Turin; Gianluca Benedetti of Padua; and Federico Gualtieri of Omegna—died during an exploration of an underwater cave system.
As families in Italy try to process the news, it has also emerged that the team was initially expected to include six divers on the trip to Vaavu Atoll on Thursday.
The site is described by local dive operators as a complex “honeycomb” of caverns and overhangs, beginning at about 160 feet below the surface.
However, shortly before the group left for the atoll, one woman—reported to be a University of Genoa student who has not been publicly named—stayed aboard their yacht, the Duke of York, and did not join the descent.
The Daily Mail reports she has since returned to Italy, though the reason she remained on the boat has not been clarified. It is one of several details investigators are still working to understand as they piece together what happened.
Rescuers managed to retrieve one body from a cave around 200 feet underwater yesterday, but were unable to locate the other four divers, who are believed to be in the same area.
The Maldives’ National Defence Force resumed efforts today, contending with hazardous conditions. Early accounts suggest the weather had already been a concern on Thursday, with warnings in place at the time of the dive.
Carlo Sommaca, the husband of Monica Montefalcone, told La Repubblica that his wife was a highly experienced diver, as well as a prominent marine biologist, television contributor, and professor at the University of Genoa.
After learning that both his wife and daughter had died, Sommaca said: “She would never have put her daughter’s life or the lives of the other children at risk out of recklessness. Something happened down there.”
Police in the Maldives have said they are considering more than one possible explanation for the incident, noting that specialists have described the dive as demanding even under calm, clear conditions.
Among the early possibilities being discussed is that underwater navigation may have been affected by low visibility, with reports also pointing to surface winds reaching around 30mph.
Authorities have also indicated they are not excluding a scenario in which one diver became trapped inside the cave and the others failed to return while trying to assist.
Alfonso Bolognini, president of the Italian Society of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine, described some of the potential dangers to the Mail: “At 50 meters of depth in the sea, there are several risks; it’s a real tragedy.
“There are several hypotheses we can make right now: an inadequate breathing mix can create a hyperoxic crisis when there’s an increase in the partial pressure of oxygen in the tissues and blood plasma, which can cause neurological problems.
“Inside a cave at 50 meters of depth, all it takes is a problem for a diver or a panic attack for a diver.” He added: ‘the agitation causes the water to become cloudy and can impair visibility.
“In these cases, the panic component could lead to even fatal errors.”