Five Italian nationals have died following a scuba diving incident in the Maldives, according to local reports on Thursday (May 14).
Those killed have been named as Monica Montefalcone, a professor at the University of Genoa, and Giorgia Sommacal, his 20-year-old daughter, after the pair went missing while diving in the waters of Vaavu Atoll.
Muriel Oddenino of Turin, Gianluca Benedetti from Padua, and Federico Gualtieri from Borgomanero also died after they did not return to the surface.
Authorities in the Maldives said the military located one of the bodies inside a cave around 60 metres below the surface, and the remaining four divers were also reported to have been found in the same location.
The group entered the water on Thursday morning after departing from a vessel. It was the same boat that raised the alarm when the five divers failed to come back up.
Officials said the dive site, approximately 60 miles south of the Maldivian capital Malé, was experiencing unsettled conditions at the time, with winds said to be reaching around 30mph.
It is not yet known whether the weather and sea conditions contributed to what happened.
“Following an accident during a scuba diving excursion, five Italian nationals have died in the Vaavu Atoll, Maldives. The divers are reported to have died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50 metres. The reconstruction of the incident is still underway by the Maldivian authorities.
“The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Embassy of Italy in Colombo have been closely monitoring the case since the first notification. The Embassy is in contact with the victims’ families in order to provide all necessary consular assistance.”
Four of those who died were part of a University of Genoa group, and the institution issued a message of condolence.
“The University of Genoa expresses its deep sorrow for the sudden and tragic death of Monica Montefalcone, associate professor of Ecology at the Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences – DISTAV, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, a UniGe student in Biomedical Engineering, Muriel Oddenino, a research fellow at DISTAV, and Federico Gualtieri, a recent UniGe graduate in Marine Biology and Ecology.
“The sympathy of the entire university community goes out to the families, colleagues and students who shared their human and professional journey.”
Maldivian authorities are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths, which has been described as the country’s most serious diving incident.