Families of victims of Maldives cave expedition seek answers after fatal drowning

After five Italian divers died while exploring a deep underwater cave near the Maldives, the families of the victims are looking for answers.

Monica Montefalcone, 52, an environmental professor at the University of Genoa, and her daughter, Giorgia, 20, were among the dead, according to the Associated Press (AP).

In an interview with local newspaper La Repubblica, Montefalcone’s husband, Carlo Sommacal, said his wife “would not have put the life of our daughter or other children at risk.”

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“My only certainty is that my wife is one of the best divers in the world,” Sommacal told the media.

“Something must have happened,” he said in a separate interview with an Italian television station, according to the AP.

Victims include marine researchers and experienced divers. Among them: Monica Montefalcone, professor of natural sciences at the University of Genoa; his daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, according to the Maldivian government.

Gianluca Benedetti was found dead near the cave entrance shortly after the group disappeared.

Authorities believe the bodies of the four remaining divers are trapped in a cave 160 meters underwater near Vaavu Atoll.

The cause of death is still under investigation.

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The divers were in an underwater cave near Alimathaa, a dive site, in Vaavu Atoll, AP reported.

Vaavu Atoll is a chain of islands in the center of the Maldives, southwest of Sri Lanka and India.

Authorities were alerted after the divers failed to show up at noon Thursday, during bad weather, according to the AP.

A group of divers prepare to search for four missing Italian divers near Alimathaa Island, Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, May 15, 2026. (Maldives President’s Media Division/AP)

Italy’s Foreign Ministry said the group “apparently died while trying to explore the caves at a depth of 50 meters (164 feet),” the AP reported.

The spokesman for the Maldivian president, Mohamed Hussain Shareef, told the media that this cave is very dangerous.

“This cave is so deep that even divers with high-quality equipment do not try to approach it,” he said.

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Local officials have described the disaster as the worst drowning accident in the Maldives.

An Italian pulmonologist told local outlet Adnkronos that the incident “suggests a problem with tanks.”

Officials in the Maldives said efforts to reach the four missing Italian divers had been suspended after Mahdi’s death. (Maldives National Defense Force)

Five divers who died during the same diving event suggest that it is “not a serious problem, but rather.” [an issue with] who were breathing,” Claudio Micheletto, director of pulmonology at the University of Verona Hospital, told Adnkronos.

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“Maybe something went wrong,” Micheletto told a local outlet.

“People who use them wouldn’t notice: Checks are the job of those who manufacture and manage the machines.”

“Italy has a proud and very popular diving culture … I am very sorry for the family.”

Alfonso Bolognini, president of the Italian Society of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine, said that there are several possible explanations, including “an inadequate breathing mixture that can cause a hyperoxic problem,” according to Adnkronos.

Bolognini also suggested that panic may have contributed to the deadly plunge, according to Italian media.

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“Inside a cave 50 meters deep, all you need is a problem with one person or a panic attack with one diver,” he said.

“In these cases, the element of panic can even lead to fatal mistakes.”

Mohamed Mahdi, a member of the Maldivian National Defense Force, died of dementia during a dangerous operation, officials said. (Maldives National Defense Force)

The dangerous search for the divers’ bodies was called off on Saturday after a military diver died during the operation.

Mohamed Mahdi, a member of Maldivian National Defense Forcehe died of dementia during the dangerous campaign, said Maldives presidential spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef.

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The Italian Foreign Ministry said the cave system consists of three large chambers connected by narrow passages. Rescue teams searched the two rooms on Friday but were forced to stop due to collapse hazards.

Officials are now awaiting the arrival of three Finnish cave divers to reassess the work.

Stephen Sorace of Fox News Digital, and The Associated Press, contributed reporting.