A Maldivian military diver has died during a high-risk operation to recover the bodies of four Italian scuba divers who drowned while exploring a deep underwater cave in the Maldives. Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian national defence force, suffered decompression sickness after searching for the divers in Vaavu Atoll and died in hospital.
The five Italians died in a scuba diving accident on Thursday, according to Italy's foreign ministry. The body of the fifth diver was found near the mouth of a cave shortly afterwards, and rescuers believe the remaining four are inside the same cave, which is divided into three large chambers connected by narrow passages.
The deceased have been identified as Monica Montefalcone, an associate ecology professor at the University of Genoa, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, marine biologist Federico Gualtieri, researcher Muriel Oddenino and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, whose body has been recovered. The University of Genoa said Montefalcone and Oddenino were on an official scientific mission to monitor marine environments and study the effects of the climate crisis on tropical biodiversity.
Mohamed Hussain Shareef, the Maldivian presidential spokesperson, said Mahudhee's death “goes to show the difficulty of the mission”. Authorities had temporarily suspended attempts to recover the bodies on Friday due to bad weather but resumed the search on Saturday, with two Italian experts expected to join the effort.
The Maldivian ministry of tourism and civil aviation suspended the operating licence of the luxury yacht the Duke of York, on which the Italians were passengers, pending the outcome of an investigation. Officials are looking into why the group went below the officially permitted depth of 30 metres, as diving at 50 metres exceeds the maximum depth recommended for recreational divers.
