Tragedy in Paradise: Search Resumes for Four Italian Divers Lost in Maldives Cave
Search teams in the Maldives resumed a grim mission Saturday to recover the bodies of four Italian scuba divers who drowned while exploring a deep underwater cave. The operation had been paused Friday due to rough seas, according to Maldivian authorities.
The divers were part of a group of five Italians who died Thursday in Vaavu Atoll, a remote cluster of coral islands in the Indian Ocean. Italy’s foreign ministry confirmed the fifth diver’s body was found near the cave entrance shortly after the accident. Rescuers believe the remaining four are trapped inside a cave system made up of three large chambers connected by narrow passages. Recovery teams have searched two chambers but struggled to reach the third.
On Saturday, the search resumed with eight local divers working in pairs. Two Italian specialists—a deep-sea rescue expert and a cave diving expert—were expected to join the effort. Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, pledged the government would do everything possible to retrieve the bodies.
The victims were identified as Monica Montefalcone, an 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. Montefalcone and Oddenino were on a scientific mission to study climate change’s impact on tropical marine life.
Montefalcone’s husband, Carlo Sommacal, told Italian TV his wife was an experienced diver who survived the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami while diving off Kenya. “Something must have happened,” he said, ruling out recklessness. “She had two lives—one on land and one in the water.”
The dive exceeded 50 meters, well past the Maldives’ recreational limit of 30 meters. The luxury yacht the Duke of York, which carried the group, had its operating license suspended indefinitely pending an investigation into why the group went too deep.
Greenpeace Italia mourned Montefalcone, calling her a passionate advocate for the ocean who spoke of its wonders with “a special light in her eyes.” Officials say this is the worst single diving accident in Maldives history, and the cause of death remains under investigation.