MALÉ, MALDIVES / EuroWire / — Five Italian nationals have died in a scuba diving accident in the Maldives, with authorities beginning recovery efforts at Vaavu Atoll as officials in Rome and Malé coordinated the response. Italy’s foreign ministry said the divers were believed to have been exploring underwater caves at a depth of about 50 metres. The ministry said Maldivian authorities were still reconstructing the incident, and no official cause of death had been announced.
Italian officials said the ambassador in Colombo, who is accredited to the Maldives, arrived in Malé on May 15 under instructions from Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and was set to meet coast guard officials. The ministry said Maldivian Coast Guard rescue vessels had reached the site and that divers from the coast guard and police, along with an Italian expert diver, were involved in the operation. It added that weather conditions could still delay access to the cave and slow the start of recovery work.
Maldivian authorities said the group vanished after a dive in Vaavu Atoll, south of the capital, prompting a search and recovery effort. The Maldives National Defence Force said one body was found inside an underwater cave and that the remaining four divers were believed to be in the same cave, which reaches a depth of about 60 metres. Police also reported rough sea conditions in the area and said a yellow warning had been issued for passenger boats and fishermen.
Victims identified in Italy
The victims were identified as Monica Montefalcone, an ecology professor at the University of Genoa, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, researcher Muriel Oddenino, dive instructor Gianluca Benedetti and marine biology graduate Federico Gualtieri. The University of Genoa said it was mourning the loss of members of its academic community, with Montefalcone, Oddenino and Gualtieri all linked to the institution. The deaths quickly drew widespread attention in Italy because of the academic and professional profiles of several of the victims.
Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said the Embassy of Italy in Colombo had been following the case from the first notification and was in contact with the families to provide consular assistance. The ministry’s update on Friday showed that the immediate focus had shifted to recovery operations, while the circumstances of the dive remained under investigation. Officials have not said when the bodies will be recovered or when a fuller reconstruction of the incident will be released.
Recovery effort faces weather delays
The accident has focused attention on the hazards of deep diving in one of the world’s best known island tourism markets. Authorities have not released details on the group’s equipment, dive plan or the sequence of events inside the cave system. Public statements from officials in both countries have remained limited to confirmed operational developments, leaving the cause of the accident open pending the outcome of the Maldivian investigation and the ongoing reconstruction of events.
For now, the confirmed picture is that five Italian divers died during a cave exploration dive in Vaavu Atoll, recovery teams have been mobilized from Malé, and weather remains a factor in reaching the site. The Maldives National Defence Force and police are involved in the operation on the ground, while Italian diplomatic officials are coordinating assistance for relatives. The case has developed into a major cross border recovery and consular response as investigators work to establish a formal chronology of what happened.