A Maldivian government spokesperson has said the bodies of four Italian divers who died deep inside an underwater cave in the Maldives on May 14 are now being taken back to Italy.
The divers were part of a five-person Italian group that disappeared while exploring a cave system in Vaavu Atoll at a depth of about 160 feet.
A complex recovery effort was started to bring the missing divers out, but the operation was later halted after Mohamed Mahudhee, a Maldivian military diver assisting with the mission, died.
After his death, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said in a statement: “The death of a diver of the Maldives National Defense Force while diving in search of missing tourists is a matter of deep sorrow for me and for every Maldivian citizen.
“This is heartbreaking news.”
Once the mission restarted on Monday (May 18), three Finnish specialist cave divers joined the effort. They were able to reach the innermost chamber of the cave and locate the four missing bodies at roughly 200 feet.
The bodies were recovered across two days, Tuesday (May 19) and Wednesday (May 20).
The people involved in the expedition, which was linked to a scientific mission monitoring marine environments with the University of Genoa, were later identified as Monica Montefalcone, a professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.
On May 23, government spokesperson Ahmed Shaam confirmed that the remains of the four recovered divers had been repatriated to Italy.
Shaam also said the four were discovered close to one another, describing them as found “pretty much together”.
DAN Europe CEO Laura Marroni, whose organization provided the Finnish divers brought in for the emergency operation, said: “The bodies were found together in an area of the cave. Based on the cave’s layout, they may have got lost.”
She added: “Considering that they had a very limited air supply and therefore only a few minutes at the bottom, there probably wasn’t even time for them to make numerous attempts to find the correct exit.”
It has also been reported that the dive went beyond the Maldives’ recreational depth limit of 30 meters (98 feet). In a statement, the University of Genoa said the dive was carried out in a “personal capacity” and was not part of its planned research program.
Footage of the cave system, recorded in 2014 by Russian diving specialist Vladimir Tochilov, shows a complex network with tight turns and multiple chambers. The limited natural light and the maze-like layout suggest conditions that could quickly cause disorientation.