Families of Maldives victims on cave trip demand answers after fatal underwater dive
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After 5 Italian divers died whereas exploring a deep underwater cave off the Maldiveshouseholds of the victims are demanding answers.
Monica Montefalcone, 52, an affiliate ecology professor on the University of Genoa, and her daughter, Giorgia, 20, have been among the many useless, based on The Associated Press (AP).
In an interview with native newspaper La Repubblica, Montefalcone’s husband, Carlo Sommacal, mentioned his spouse “would by no means have put the life of our daughter or other kids in danger.”
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“My only certainty is that my wife is one of the best scuba divers on the face of the earth,” Sommacal instructed the media outlet.
“Something must have happened,” he mentioned in a unique interview with an Italian tv station, based on AP.
Monica Montefalcone, one of 5 Italian scuba divers who died close to Alimathaa within the Maldives archipelago whereas exploring an underwater cave, is proven on this undated photograph launched by Greenpeace Italia on May 15, 2026. (Greenpeace Italy/AP)
The victims included marine investigators and experienced divers. Among them: Monica Montefalcone, an ecology professor on the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving teacher Gianluca Benedetti, based on the Maldivian authorities.
Gianluca Benedetti was discovered useless close to the cave entrance shortly after the group disappeared.
Authorities imagine the our bodies of the four remaining divers are trapped deep inside a cave system about 160 ft underwater close to Vaavu Atoll.
The trigger of the deaths stays beneath investigation.
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The divers were in an underwater cave close to Alimathaa, a dive web site, in Vaavu Atoll, AP reported.
Vaavu Atoll is a sequence of islands within the central Maldives, positioned southwest of Sri Lanka and India.
Authorities have been alerted after the divers did not floor by noon Thursday, when climate situations have been tough, per AP.
A diving crew prepares to seek for 4 lacking Italian divers close to Alimathaa Island, Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, May 15, 2026. (Maldives President’s Media Division/AP)
Italy’s Foreign Ministry mentioned the group “apparently died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50 meters (164 feet),” the AP reported.
Maldivian presidential spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef instructed reporters the cave was exceptionally harmful.
“The cave is so deep that divers even with the best equipment do not try to approach,” he mentioned.
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Local officers described the tragedy because the Maldives’ worst single diving accident.
An Italian pulmonologist instructed native outlet Adnkronos that the incident “suggests a problem with the tanks.”
Officials within the Maldives mentioned the hassle to succeed in the 4 lacking Italian divers was suspended after Mahdi’s loss of life. (Maldives National Defense Force)
Five divers dying throughout the identical dive occasion suggests “not so much a depth problem, but rather [an issue with] what they breathed,” Claudio Micheletto, director of pulmonology on the University Hospital of Verona, instructed Adnkronos.
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“It is likely that something did not work in the tanks,” Micheletto instructed the native outlet.
“The people using them could not have noticed: Checks are the responsibility of those who produce and manage the equipment.”
“Italy has a very proud and much beloved diving culture… Very sorry for the family.”
Alfonso Bolognini, president of the Italian Society of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine, mentioned there are a number of potential explanations, together with “an inadequate breathing mixture that can create a hyperoxic crisis,” based on Adnkronos.
Bolognini additionally steered panic might have contributed to the lethal dive, based on Italian newswires.
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“Inside a cave at 50 meters deep, all it takes is a problem for one operator or a panic attack for one diver,” he mentioned.
“In these cases, the panic component could lead to even fatal mistakes.”
Mohamed Mahdi, a member of the Maldivian National Defense Force, died from decompression illness in the course of the harmful mission, officers mentioned. (Maldives National Defense Force)
A deadly seek for the our bodies of the divers was halted Saturday after a army diver died in the course of the mission.
Mohamed Mahdi, a member of the Maldivian National Defense Forcedied from decompression illness in the course of the harmful mission, Maldives presidential spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef mentioned.
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The Italian Foreign Ministry mentioned the cave system consists of three massive chambers related by slim passages. Rescue groups explored two chambers Friday however have been pressured to cease as a result of of decompression dangers.
Officials are actually awaiting the arrival of three Finnish cave-diving specialists to reassess the operation.
Stephen Sorace of Fox News Digital, in addition to The Associated Press, contributed reporting.
