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This image released by the Maldives President’s Media Division, shows divers preparing to search for the four missing Italian divers near Alimathaa Island, Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, Saturday, May 15, 2026. (Maldives President’s Media Division via AP)<\/p>\n
Maldives President\u2019s Media Division via AP<\/p>\n
This image released by the Maldives President’s Media Division, shows a coast guard boat and other vessels deployed to search for the four missing Italian divers near Alimathaa Island, Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, Saturday, May 15, 2026. (Maldives President’s Media Division via AP)<\/p>\n
Maldives President\u2019s Media Division via AP<\/p>\n
This photograph shared by the Maldives President’s Media Division, shows divers preparing to search for the four missing Italian divers near Alimathaa Island, Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, Saturday, May 15, 2026. (Maldives President’s Media Division via AP)<\/p>\n
Maldives President\u2019s Media Division via AP<\/p>\n
FILE – This undated handout picture released by Greenpeace Italia on Friday, May 15, 2026 shows Monica Montefalcone one of the five Italian scuba divers who died near Alimathaa in the Maldives archipelago while exploring an underwater cave. (Greenpeace via AP, Ho)<\/p>\n
Greenpeace\/Greenpeace via AP<\/p>\n
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) \u2014 A Maldivian military diver died Saturday while searching for the bodies of four Italian divers believed to be deep inside an underwater cave.<\/p>\n
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The group of five Italian divers is believed to have died while exploring a cave at a depth of about 50 meters (160 feet) in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, according to Italy\u2019s Foreign Ministry. The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30 meters.<\/p>\n
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Maldives Presidential Spokesman Mohammed Hussain Shareef said that Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defense Force, died of underwater decompression sickness after being transferred to a hospital in the capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe death goes to show the difficulty of the mission,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Shareef said the searchers had prepared a plan based on their progress exploring the cave on Friday. Mahudhee was part of the group that briefed Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu on the rescue plan when he visited the search site on Friday.<\/p>\n
Rough weather has repeatedly hampered rescue efforts.<\/p>\n
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The Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said everything possible would be done to bring the victims home. His ministry stated it was coordinating with Divers Alert Network, a specialist diving organization, to support recovery operations and the repatriation of the bodies. The cause of the deaths remains under investigation.<\/p>\n
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, according to the Maldivian government.<\/p>\n
Benedetti\u2019s body was recovered on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Montefalcone and Oddenino were in the Maldives on an official scientific mission to monitor marine environments and study the effects of climate change on tropical biodiversity, the University of Genoa said in a statement Friday. However, the scuba diving activity during which the deadly accident occurred was not part of the planned research and was \u201cundertaken privately,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
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The statement also said the two other victims \u2014 student Sommacal and recent graduate Gualtieri \u2014 were not involved in the scientific mission.<\/p>\n
Cave diving is a highly technical and dangerous activity that requires specialized training, equipment and strict safety protocols. Risks increase sharply in environments where divers cannot head straight up and at depth, particularly when conditions are poor. Experts say it\u2019s easy to become disoriented or lost inside caves, particularly as sediment clouds can sharply reduce visibility.<\/p>\n
Diving at 50 meters also exceeds the maximum depth recommended for recreational divers by most major established scuba certifying agencies, with depths beyond 40 meters considered technical diving and requiring specialized training and equipment.<\/p>\n
Shareef said Benedetti\u2019s body was found near the mouth of the cave and authorities believed the remaining four had entered the cave.<\/p>\n
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Two Italians, a deep-sea rescue expert and a cave diving expert, are expected to join the recovery effort, Shareef said.<\/p>\n
Italian officials said that around 20 other Italians on the same expedition aboard the vessel \u201cDuke of York\u201d were safe. Italy\u2019s embassy in Colombo was providing assistance to those onboard and had contacted the Red Crescent, which offered to deploy volunteers to help provide psychological aid.<\/p>\n
The Maldives tourism ministry said it has suspended the operating license of the \u201cDuke of York\u201d pending an investigation.<\/p>\n
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By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Italian foreign ministry said the cave is divided into three large chambers connected by narrow passages. Recovery teams explored two of the three chambers on Friday, but the search was limited due to considerations over oxygen and decompression.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n On Saturday, they will explore the third chamber, the ministry added.<\/p>\n Italian officials and the honorary consul are in contact with the victims\u2019 families to provide assistance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This image released by the Maldives President’s Media Division, shows divers preparing to search for the four missing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[469,5,12356,12049,12357,12358,12333,25,821,817,822],"class_list":{"0":"post-16708","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-italy","8":"tag-antonio-tajani","9":"tag-italy","10":"tag-italy-divers-missing-maldives-search-underwater-cave","11":"tag-maldives","12":"tag-mohamed-mahudhee","13":"tag-mohamed-muizzu","14":"tag-mohammed-hussain-shareef","15":"tag-package-100024-ap-online","16":"tag-package-100373-mc-complete-state-national","17":"tag-product-30598-ap-national-news-report-a-wire","18":"tag-product-46986-ap-online-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}