The bodies of the final two of five Italian divers who tragically lost their lives while diving in a deep underwater cave in the Maldives have been successfully recovered. The deceased, identified as Giorgia Sommacal and Muriel Oddenino, were part of a group that entered a deep-water cave in the Vaavu Atoll last week.
A specialized team of expert divers from Finland located and retrieved their bodies on Wednesday. According to an Italian foreign ministry source, 'The first one has already been lifted onto a support boat. The second is being brought up by a diver who is observing the decompression stops.'
The diving group was led by Monica Montefalcone, 51, a University of Genoa professor and marine ecologist who was a regular diver in Maldivian waters in the Indian Ocean. She was accompanied by her daughter, Giorgia. The bodies of Montefalcone and university researcher Federico Gualtieri had previously been recovered on Tuesday. Boat captain and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti was the first body to be recovered last week.
Maldivian authorities are investigating multiple potential factors behind the accident, which stands as the deadliest single incident in the country's diving history. Among the possibilities being explored is whether the divers descended significantly deeper than anticipated.
