MALE, Maldives — Maldivian authorities suspended the perilous search for the bodies of four Italian divers who are believed to be deep inside an underwater cave, after a military diver involved in the mission died, officials said Saturday.
Maldivian presidential spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef announced the suspension following the death of Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldives National Defense Force. Mahudhee died of decompression sickness after being rushed to a hospital in the capital, Male. He was part of a team that had briefed President Mohamed Muzzu on the rescue plan during a site visit Friday.
“The death goes to show the difficulty of the mission,” Shareef said. Mahudhee will be buried with military honors at a funeral attended by Muizzu on Saturday night.
Rough weather has repeatedly hampered efforts to reach the cave, located in Vaavu Atoll. The group of five Italian divers is believed to have died Thursday while exploring the cave at a depth of about 50 meters (160 feet), according to Italy’s Foreign Ministry. The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30 meters (98 feet).
The Italian Foreign Ministry described the cave as divided into three large chambers linked by narrow passages. Recovery teams explored two of the chambers on Friday before suspending the search due to oxygen and decompression constraints.
The victims have been identified as Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti. Benedetti’s body was recovered Thursday near the mouth of the cave.
Montefalcone and Oddenino were in the Maldives on an official scientific mission to monitor marine environments and study climate change’s effects on tropical biodiversity, the university said. But the scuba dive during which the accident occurred was “not part of the planned research and was undertaken privately,” the university added. Sommacal and Gualtieri were not part of the scientific mission.
Carlo Sommacal, Montefalcone’s husband and Giorgia’s father, expressed doubts about the accident. “Something must have happened down there,” he told Italian television, describing his wife as a careful, highly disciplined diver who would never put her daughter or others at risk.
The Italian tour operator that managed the diving trip told Italian daily Corriere della Sera that it did not authorize the deep dive and was unaware the group planned to descend beyond the 30-meter limit. Lawyer Orietta Stella, representing Albatros Top Boat, said the operator “would have never allowed it.” The equipment used appeared to be standard recreational gear, not the specialized technical equipment needed for deep cave diving, she added.
Albatros only marketed the cruise and neither owned the vessel nor employed the crew, which was hired locally, Stella said. The Maldives Tourism Ministry suspended the operating license of the vessel “Duke of York” pending an investigation.
Cave diving is a highly technical and dangerous activity that requires specialized training, equipment, and strict safety protocols. Diving at 50 meters exceeds the maximum depth recommended for recreational divers by most major scuba certifying agencies, with anything beyond 40 meters considered technical diving. Experts say it is easy to become disoriented or lost inside caves, especially when sediment clouds sharply reduce visibility.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said everything possible would be done to bring the victims home and offered condolences for Mahudhee’s death. Around 20 other Italians on the same expedition remained safe aboard the Duke of York. Italy’s embassy in Colombo was assisting them, and the Red Crescent offered to deploy volunteers for psychological support.
Maldives authorities said three Finnish experts in deep and cave diving are expected to arrive Sunday to help authorities rethink their search strategy.