Because many questions remain unanswered, the investigation was started.Image: Mohamed Sharhaan
Five Italian divers failed to return to the surface during a dive at Vaavu Atoll in the Maldives on May 14. The search for them also cost the life of a local diver. Investigations are now underway.
May 24, 2026, 1:39 p.mMay 24, 2026, 1:39 p.m
The remains of four Italian divers who died in an underwater cave in the Maldives have been returned to their homeland. A spokesman for the Maldivian government announced this on Saturday. Presidential spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef said two investigations had been opened. One is the death of a total of five divers from Italy, the second investigation is intended to clarify the circumstances of the death of a local military diver who suffered decompression sickness during the dangerous search operation and died in a hospital in the capital Malé. Italy has agreed to pass on all findings in the event of autopsies.
A total of five Italian divers did not return to the surface during a dive on Vaavu Atoll on May 14th. The body of an Italian diving instructor was discovered dead in the entrance area of the cave at a depth of around 50 meters on the same day. His body had already been repatriated to Italy.
The search for the four other members of the diving group, three women and one man, was temporarily suspended following the death of the local military diver. Finnish special divers with special equipment finally discovered them deep in the depths of the cave at around 60 meters and recovered the bodies in two stages. The Divers’ Alert Network Europe, which sent the three Finnish divers, said on its website that the Finns were technical and cave divers with international experience in search and rescue operations – including operations in “deep environments with overhead structures, confined spaces and high-risk scenarios”.
The team used advanced technical systems, including rebreathers. Such systems recycle exhaled breathing gas and remove carbon dioxide using a chemical filter, allowing for “significantly longer dives,” the organization explained.
Why wasn’t everyone on the list?
In the Maldives there is a depth limit for classic recreational diving of 30 meters; deeper dives require a permit. International diving training organizations such as PADI and SSI specify the absolute depth limit for classic recreational diving as 40 meters and make the maximum permissible depth for individual divers dependent on their individual training level. Anything under 40 meters is considered technical diving, which requires additional skills and often specialist equipment.
Although the divers had a permit, authorities did not know the exact location of the cave they explored based on their application. In addition, according to the Maldivian authorities, at least two of the deceased were not on the submitted list of researchers involved. The Italian victims are the ecology lecturer Monica Montefalcone from the University of Genoa, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, the marine biologist Federico Gualtieri, the researcher Muriel Oddenino and the diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti. The Maldivian diver who died was Mohamed Mahudhee. (dpa) (aargauerzeitung.ch)