Following the deaths of five Italians in the Vaavu atoll, rescue teams are attempting to recover their bodies from a deep, narrow, and dangerous network of caves. A Maldivian military diver died during the operation.
A perilous operation
In the Maldives, the priority is no longer rescue, but recovery of the bodies. Five Italian divers died during a dive in a network of underwater caves in the Vaavu Atoll. The search, launched immediately after their disappearance, has become a particularly perilous technical operation, conducted at great depths, in a confined environment subject to severe decompression constraints. The bodies of four Italian divers still missing were located on Monday, after the resumption of operations. One body had been found earlier near the cave entrance.
An intervention under extreme duress
Italian divers reportedly explored a cave located approximately 50 meters deep, beyond the 30-meter recreational diving limit in the Maldives, according to the Associated Press. This depth significantly increases the complexity of the operation: time spent at the bottom is limited, gas reserves must be precisely calculated, and any ascent requires decompression stops.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes a network composed of three large chambers connected by narrow passages. An initial dive by the Maldivian coast guard allowed for the exploration of two chambers, but the depth did not permit the operation to be extended as far as necessary, particularly due to decompression limitations.
The Maldivian coast guard on the front line
The operation began with the involvement of the Maldivian coast guard and police, supported by an Italian expert diver. According to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the first divers were tasked with locating and precisely marking the entrance to the cave system before other teams attempted to locate the bodies and bring them to the surface. Eight Maldivian divers were mobilized, taking turns in the water.
The death of a rescuer disrupts the mission
The danger of the operation was brutally confirmed by the death of Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldives National Defence Force. He was participating in the search when he suffered a decompression accident. According to authorities, he died after being transferred to a hospital in the capital.
Mohamed Mahudhee was part of an eight-person diving team that participated in the operation on Saturday. After the team surfaced, his colleagues realized he was missing. They went back underwater and found him unconscious. His death led to a temporary suspension of the search and a complete reassessment of the operation. For the authorities, the objective became twofold: to recover the bodies of the Italian victims, but also to prevent a further operation from causing more deaths.
Specialized Finnish divers called in as reinforcements
Given the difficulty of the mission, three Finnish divers specializing in deep-sea and cave operations were sent to the site with support from DAN Europe. The organization identified the divers as Sami Paakkarinen, Jenni Westerlund, and Patrik Grönqvist. Their arrival was followed by phases of equipment preparation, gas checks, environmental assessment, and dive planning.
The weather is further complicating the search.
Weather conditions hampered the rescue efforts. Italian authorities had already indicated that the bad weather could prevent the start or continuation of operations. Rough seas repeatedly hampered the rescue teams' efforts.
The Italian ambassador in Colombo, who is responsible for the Maldives, traveled to the islands to coordinate the response with local authorities. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani requested that the families be supported and that Italian nationals present be assisted. The yacht Duke of York, carrying 25 Italian tourists, including the five deceased divers, returned to Malé after the accident.
Who are the victims?
The identified victims are Monica Montefalcone, associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, Federico Gualtieri, marine biologist, Muriel Oddenino, researcher, and Gianluca Benedetti, diving instructor. The University of Genoa clarified that the dive during which the accident occurred was undertaken privately and was not part of the official scientific mission being conducted at the site.
