Finnish experts located the four missing divers inside an underwater cave Monday, four days after they vanished. A Maldivian military diver died Saturday attempting the recovery.
2:37 PM
Rescuers located the bodies of four Italian divers deep inside an underwater cave in Vaavu Atoll, the Maldives, on Monday, four days after they were reported missing during a scuba diving expedition.
The bodies of Monica Montefalcone, 52, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, 20, Muriel Oddenino, 31, and Federico Gualtieri, 31, were found inside the Thinwana Kandu cave, also known as "shark cave," by a team of three Finnish diving experts. The team was assembled within 48 hours by Divers Alert Network Europe and was supported by Maldives police and military personnel.
Ahmed Shaam, a Maldives government spokesman, said the four bodies were located "well inside the cave into the third segment of the cave, which is the largest part" and were found "pretty much together." Officials said recovery efforts would begin the following day, with plans to retrieve two bodies on Tuesday and the remaining two on Wednesday.
The divers went missing on Thursday near Alimatha in Vaavu Atoll after attempting to explore underwater caves at a depth of approximately 50 meters, or 164 feet. The Maldives National Defence Force's Maritime Rescue Coordination Center received a report at 1:45 p.m. that the divers had failed to return. One body was discovered inside the cave at 6:13 p.m. by safari divers who had joined the search effort.
Search and recovery operations were suspended on Friday due to bad weather before resuming on Monday. The suspension followed the death of Sgt. Major Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defense Force, who died Saturday from underwater decompression sickness while attempting to recover the missing divers.
According to Shafraz Naeem, identified as the country's most accomplished cave diver and Mahudhee's former military mentor, the diver who died was "not trained" to carry out such a mission. Naeem told the Maldives Independent that the dive team "went on normal air" and that divers "are not trained to go into caves," adding that specialized training is required for such operations. Naeem described Mahudhee as "one of the best" divers, but noted his training did not extend to cave diving.
Among the five Italian divers who died were four members of a University of Genoa team: Monica Montefalcone, a professor of ecology; her daughter Giorgia Sommacal; and two researchers. The fifth victim was identified as Gianluca Benedetti, 44, a diving instructor, whose body was recovered earlier in the operation.
The incident represents the Maldives' worst-ever diving disaster. Maldivian authorities are investigating the circumstances of the accident.
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