The Maldives government said on Monday that the bodies of four Italian scuba divers who died last week have been found after an arduous mission to find them in an underwater cave.
Five Italians died Thursday while exploring caves in Vavu Atoll, prompting a multinational effort to find and retrieve their bodies.
One of them was discovered that day at the entrance to the maze-like cave. International cave divers have teamed up with Maldivian experts to try to find the remains of the other four.
Operations were temporarily halted after the death of a military diver, but resumed on Monday.
On Sunday, three Finnish divers from the global scuba safety group Diver Alert Network (DAN) worked with a fourth expert and the local coast guard to develop a new strategy. Maldives government chief spokesman Mohamed Hussain Sharif said Britain and Australia were providing specialist equipment.
Sharif said the four missing Italians had been found in the deepest part of the sea cave and rescuers planned to bring them back. tThe body of the heir for the next few days.
Who are the divers?
Sharif said the body of diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti was found at the entrance of the cave, leading authorities to believe four other Italians were still inside.
They are Monica Montefacone, associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter Georgia Somacar; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; and researcher Muriel Oddenino.
Muriel Ordenino, Federico Gualtieri, Monica Montefalcone, Jalenka Benedetti and Georgia Somakal. – Facebook / University of Genoa / Albatros Top Boat / Instagram
Authorities confirmed that while others were in the water, the sixth diver decided not to go into the water.
According to the Italian Foreign Ministry, the group was on a scuba diving expedition on board the Duke of York.
The ministry added that the Red Crescent took the initiative to provide psychological first aid to the 20 Italians remaining on board and that no injuries were reported.
Another life has been claimed while trying to recover four missing bodies, underlining the danger and complexity of the salvage operation.
Senior military diver Sgt. Mohamed Mahudhee, 43, died on Saturday during a second rescue mission into the cave, which at its deepest point is 70 meters (230 feet) below the surface (roughly as deep as a 20-story building) and 200 meters long.
“He was one of the most senior divers, which shows how challenging this dive was,” Sharif said.
What happened on Monday’s recovery mission?
On Monday, Maldivian divers, with the participation of DAN Cave Divers, re-entered the water and began a safety assessment of the cave.
DAN CEO Laura Moroney told CNN Newsroom before the dive that factors considered could be “whether the underwater current is too strong” or “whether the cave’s morphology is safe enough for their plans.”
The team is equipped with underwater scooters and specialized tanks that recycle air to allow for more dive time.
The four Italians were later discovered in the third and largest section of the cave, which divers reported was larger than initially thought, according to the Maldives President’s Media Office.
A spokesman said the operation was a joint effort between divers from DAN, the Maldives Coast Guard and local police, who planned to recover their bodies on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Asked at what point the mission became too dangerous, Moroney said: “The team knew they didn’t have to put themselves in harm’s way… If there was anything they deemed too dangerous, they would stop the dive, return to the surface, re-plan, and then dive again the next day or whenever possible.”
Rescue diver dies of decompression sickness
Authorities believe Mahudhee, a member of the Defense Forces and a military diver, died of decompression sickness, which is caused by a rapid drop in pressure in the surrounding air or water.
According to Harvard Health, decompression sickness is most common among scuba or deep-sea divers, but can also occur during high-altitude or decompression air travel.
Divers prepare to search for four missing Italian divers near Vavu Atoll in the Maldives on May 15, 2026. – Maldives Presidential Media Department/Associated Press
Sharif said each dive on the Maldives recovery mission was limited to about three hours due to oxygen and decompression requirements.
However, Sharif said conditions were extremely challenging, with unpredictable strong currents, narrow passages leading to huge cave chambers and pitch-black darkness.
“You have to be an expert diver at this level,” he added.
During Saturday’s recovery operation, two divers marked the cave entrance by shooting balloons to the surface. This allows other crew members to swim directly to it and maximize their time inside.
After ascending from the depths of the cave, divers must remain in shallow water to decompress before resurfacing.
Authorities believe Mahudi, a member of the Tatmadaw, died of complications during the process.
“As per protocol, he was diving tandem and when his partner realized something was wrong, he came back to the surface and the rest of the team jumped in to try to save him,” Sharif said.
Mahudi was buried with military honors in a ceremony in Maldives’ capital Male, paid tribute by thousands of people including President Mohamed Muizu, tourism and military officials and foreign ambassadors.
The Maldives has extensive water safety protocols and professional divers, Sharif said, noting that the archipelago’s maritime territory is approximately 3,000 times its land area.
What happened to the Italian divers?
This has yet to be determined.
John Volanthen, a diving officer with the British Cave Rescue Committee who played a key role in the rescue of a Thai youth football team in 2018, said it was unclear whether currents played a role in the incident but that the depth and silt of the cave had “certainly hampered” rescue efforts.
“It’s a long way into the cave, and normally cave divers will create a guideline to find a route into the cave. This may have been the case for the missing person,” he told CNN.
Wolandson said panic can also affect divers, and in deeper dives there is an increased risk due to anesthesia – a temporary state of intoxication that occurs when breathing compressed air.
“It also makes it more likely that you’ll get drunk or simply not be able to control yourself,” Wolandson added.
“So when you start going deeper, the anesthesia effect may cause panic, but it also makes them less likely to find their way out.
“And if the cave becomes silty, which is common in this type of cave, it becomes more difficult to find your way out if you touch the walls or floor.”
Carlo Somacar, Montefalcone’s husband and Georgia’s father, wasn’t sure what caused the accident, saying “something must have happened there” given the extensive experience of his wife and daughter.
On May 15, 2026, a Coast Guard vessel and other vessels deployed near Alimasa Island in Vavu Atoll, Maldives, to search for four missing Italian divers. – Maldives Presidential Media Department, Associated Press
He described Montefalcone in an interview with Italian television as a careful, disciplined diver who would never put his daughter or other colleagues at risk, according to the Associated Press.
The outlet said he recalled her sometimes telling him: “I can do this, you can’t,” and how his wife survived the 2004 tsunami while diving in Kenya.
Questions about the legality of diving
An investigation is underway to determine what happened to the divers and how they reached such depths.
“For recreational and commercial diving, by law no one is allowed to dive deeper than 30 meters, and unfortunately this seems to be happening much deeper as even the entrance to the cave is almost 50 meters underwater,” Shareef said.
Sharif said the vessel’s license had been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation, adding: “Everything will be investigated.”
The Italian travel agency that manages diving trips to the Maldives denies authorizing or having knowledge of deep dives that violate local restrictions, its lawyer told Italian daily Corriere della Sera on Saturday.
Orietta Stella, a representative for Albatros Top Boat, said the operator had “no idea” the team planned to descend above 30 metres. Crossing that threshold would require special permission from the Maldives maritime authorities, which the tour operator “would never allow”, she said.
She said the Italian divers were experienced but the equipment they used appeared to be standard recreational gear rather than technical equipment suitable for deep cave diving.
She also clarified that Albatros only sells the cruise ship and neither owns the ship nor employs the crew, who are hired locally.
CNN has contacted Albatros Top Boat for comment.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said every effort would be made to return their remains, the Associated Press reported.
Italian connection
The Maldives is highly dependent on tourism, and according to the Maldives Ministry of Tourism, it will welcome more than 2 million tourists by 2025, compared with a resident population of 500,000.
In 1972, Italy-based dive tour operator George Corbin introduced tourism to the former British colony.
Since then, Italy has continued to rank among the Maldives’ largest tourism markets.
“Italy has a very special relationship with us when it comes to tourism and we have been good friends over the years in terms of hospitality,” Sharif said.
“The locals are shocked, not only because this is the biggest diving accident this country has ever seen, but also because they are Italian.”
Sharif said the Maldives and Italian governments had been communicating at the “highest level” and Muizou expressed his “deepest condolences” to Italian President Sergio Mattarella and the families of the deceased and missing.
Italy’s foreign ministry said Rome’s envoy to the country boarded a coast guard vessel on Friday to join rescuers.
CNN’s Manveena Suri, Chandler Thornton and Sharon Braithwaite contributed to this report.
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