Maldives cave dive deaths, investigators say group took wrong tunnel

The five Italian divers who died in the Maldives may have made a fatal wrong turn deep inside an underwater cave, entering a dead-end corridor where visibility narrowed, air thinned and escape slipped out of reach. Investigators and recovery specialists said the group likely took the wrong tunnel at Devana Kandu and could have been only about 15 minutes from open water when the dive turned deadly.

Maldivian authorities said the group had been cleared for soft-coral research at the site in Vaavu Atoll near Alimathaa island, but the government did not know the expedition would involve cave diving. The accident has been described as the deadliest single diving incident in Maldives history, and it has focused attention on the gap between an approved marine research dive and the hazards of a confined technical cave system.

The divers were identified as Monica Montefalcone, 51, a University of Genoa professor and marine ecologist, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, marine biologist Federico Gualtieri, researcher Muriel Oddenino and instructor Gianluca Benedetti. Montefalcone’s husband, Carlo Sommacal, said she had completed about 5,000 dives and was "always conscientious" and "never reckless." The instructor’s body was recovered first, from about 60 metres, or 200 feet, deep. The other four were later found together in the cave’s third and last chamber, about 50 to 60 metres down.

Recovery divers said the cave system contains multiple chambers and passages, with a narrow corridor and sandbank that can reduce visibility on the way out. Finnish specialists from Divers Alert Network Europe used closed-circuit rebreathers and spent about three hours on the first deep recovery dive. The search grew more dangerous when a Maldivian military diver died from decompression complications, forcing the Finnish team to take over.

Authorities said multiple possible factors were under investigation, including whether the group had the right scuba equipment for the depth and environment. Once the recovery was complete, officials said DNA confirmation, with Interpol cooperation, and repatriation of the bodies to Italy would follow. The case now stands as a stark reminder of how one wrong turn in a deep cave can turn a planned dive into a race against air supply, darkness and time.