Chilling new images have revealed the inside of a murky 'shark cave' where five Italian divers mysteriously died, and a military hero lost his life attempting to rescue them. The incident occurred at Thinwana Kandu cave in the Maldives, a site often referred to as 'shark cave' by locals due to the belief that sharks use it as a resting place.
The Disappearance
The five divers—a university professor, her daughter, two marine researchers, and their diving instructor—disappeared on May 14 while descending into the cave. They had arrived on a yacht that morning and began a descent to perilous depths of around 180 to 200 feet. At 1:45 PM local time, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) coastguard received an emergency alert after the divers failed to resurface. A yellow weather warning was in effect, with rough seas and strong currents severely hampering the initial response.
Initial Recovery
That same evening, search teams recovered the body of the diving instructor, Gianluca Benedetti, near the first chamber of the cave. The other four divers—Monica Montefalcone, Giorgia Sommacal, Muriel Oddenino, and Federico Gualtieri—remained missing. A high-risk, specialised search operation involving divers, vessels, and air support was launched on the Friday, with Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu visiting the site to oversee the start of the mission. However, search and recovery operations were suspended only hours later due to deteriorating sea conditions, poor visibility, and the extreme dangers posed by the cave's depth.
Military Rescue Attempt
An eight-man military dive team successfully entered the two chambers of the massive cave system the next day but found no further bodies. During the dive, the rescue team leader, Sergeant Major Mohamed Mahudhee, fell unconscious underwater and was rushed to a hospital in Malé, around 60 miles away. He was pronounced dead shortly after from a suspected decompression illness and was buried within hours with military honours. The MNDF again suspended its search in the aftermath.
Finnish Divers Locate Bodies
On Sunday, an elite team of three Finnish technical cave-diving specialists, partially assembled by the Italian government, arrived at the remote chain of islands to take over the recovery mission. Their search located the bodies of the four remaining Italian divers in the third segment of the cave system. The bodies are yet to be recovered, with further dives planned this week.
Questions Raised
Questions have since been raised over why the group ventured to such depths inside the cave with only limited recreational equipment. Deep-sea diver Marc Randazza commented on X: 'I’ve been diving for 30 years. Rescue and deep dive certified. These divers were effectively dead the moment they went in the water. At 150 feet, with recreational gear and without a special gas mix, you’re already dead.' He added that there was 'no possible way' the divers would have survived those depths 'whether they panicked or not,' and that the dive plan 'was never going to end with any of them alive.'
