Joint rescue team locates victims in deep underwater cave
Authorities in the Maldives have confirmed the discovery of the bodies of four Italian divers who went missing during a scuba diving accident last week, marking a tragic development in one of the country’s deadliest diving incidents.
According to officials, the divers disappeared on Thursday and search teams later located their bodies inside a cave nearly 60 metres deep in Vaavu Atoll. A specialised rescue operation involving highly trained Finnish and Maldivian divers led to the discovery.
Earlier, authorities had already recovered the body of a fifth member of the Italian group on the day of the incident. Officials now believe all five victims were found in the same underwater cave.
Meanwhile, government spokesperson Mohamed Hossain Shareef said authorities would continue rescue operations in the coming days to recover the bodies from the site.
Rescue mission also claims life of Maldivian diver
The incident also turned more tragic after a Maldivian rescue diver lost his life during search efforts on Saturday.
Authorities identified the diver as Staff Sgt Mohamed Mahdhee, who joined a team of eight rescue divers tasked with locating the missing group. According to officials, team members noticed Mahdhee had not resurfaced after completing a dive.
Consequently, fellow rescue divers immediately re-entered the water and later found him unconscious. Despite efforts to save him, he died during the operation.
The Italian victims included four members associated with the University of Genoa: Prof Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, researchers Muriel Oddenino and Federico Gualtieri. The fifth victim was diving instructor and boat operations manager Gianluca Benedetti.
Officials believe the accident could be the Maldives’ worst single diving tragedy.
