New harrowing details have emerged about the “shark cave” where five Italian divers and a recovery diver tragically lost their lives in the Maldives last week.
Five Italian divers died in a tragic scuba diving accident last Thursday in Vaavu Atoll, part of the Indian Ocean archipelago.
The divers have since been identified as University of Genoa marine biology professor Monica Montefalcone, her 20-year-old daughter Giorgia Sommacal, Muriel Oddenino, Gianluca Benedetti, and Federico Gualtieri. Sergeant Major Mohammed Mahudhee also died during the search operation.
Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu addressed the tragedy in a statement, saying: “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.”
Maldives scuba diving tragedy
According to reports, the accident is the deadliest single diving incident in Maldives history. Various experts have weighed in on what they believe may have happened, with theories ranging from oxygen toxicity to panic inside the underwater cave system.
Benedetti’s body had reportedly already been located following the incident before adverse weather conditions forced search teams to halt operations. A rescue diver later died on Saturday while searching for the remaining bodies. The victims were eventually found dead inside a 60-meter-deep cave by a team of Finnish and Maldivian divers.
Mohamed Hossain Shareef, a Maldivian government spokesperson, told the BBC: “Further dives [are] to be carried out in the coming days to recover the bodies.”
Authorities have since confirmed that the remaining four bodies were found inside a “shark cave.” According to VT, their remains were located inside Thinwana Kandu cave.
“We are deeply grateful to the specialists on site”
Laura Marroni, CEO of DAN Europe, said: “Today’s result is the outcome of extraordinary preparation, technical excellence, and exceptional teamwork.
“We are deeply grateful to the specialists on site, who are operating with professionalism, discipline, and humanity in demanding environments.”
The divers are believed to have descended to depths of around 160 feet to explore the cave, despite the recreational diving limit being 30 meters (98 feet).
Four of the victims were connected to the University of Genoa, which released a statement following the tragedy.
“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.”
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