Bodies of missing Italian divers found in Maldives cave search

Specialist divers recovered the four remaining bodies of missing Italian nationals from an underwater cave system in the Maldives on Monday, ending a high-risk search that had already claimed the life of a Maldivian rescuer. The deaths have put a hard spotlight on diving safety in a country where marine tourism is central to the economy.

The missing group vanished on Thursday, May 14, while exploring the cave system in Vaavu Atoll near Dhekunu Kandu and Alimathaa Island, about 50 meters, or 160 feet, below the surface. That depth sits far beyond the Maldives’ recreational diving limit of 30 meters, or 98 feet, underscoring the danger of the dive and the challenges facing emergency teams working in confined underwater terrain.

One of the five, diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, had already been found dead near the cave mouth. The other victims were identified as University of Genoa associate ecology professor Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, marine biologist Federico Gualtieri and researcher Muriel Oddenino. Montefalcone and Oddenino were in the Maldives on an official scientific mission to monitor marine environments and study the effects of climate change on tropical biodiversity, but authorities said the fatal dive was private and not part of the planned research.

The search effort was suspended over the weekend after Maldivian National Defence Force diver Sergeant Major Mohamed Mahudhee died of underwater decompression sickness while being transferred to a hospital in Malé. His death exposed the price of recovery work in a place where local responders were being asked to operate at the edge of their capability, in rough weather and in a cave environment that made every descent more dangerous.

The operation resumed Monday morning with a specialist team of three Finnish rescue divers from DAN Europe. The team entered the water near Dhekunu Kandu at about 8:30 a.m. local time, spent roughly three hours inside the cave system and located all four remaining victims. Additional dives were expected for recovery work.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani offered condolences to Mahudhee’s family and thanked Maldivian authorities, including the Coast Guard, National Defence Forces, police and local Red Crescent, for their support. The Italian government also said about 20 other Italians traveling on the same diving boat, the Duke of York, were safe.

The case has left two deaths on the seabed and one in the rescue effort, raising uncomfortable questions for the Maldives as it depends on diving tourism but must still confront the limits of weather warnings, safety protocols and deep-water emergency response when recreational excursions move beyond the conditions the system is built to handle.