in Rome – Italy’s Foreign Ministry said rescuers on Monday found the bodies of four Italian divers believed to be deep inside an underwater cave on the island of the Maldives.
The search resumed on Monday after being suspended following an investigation the death of a local navy diver during the dangerous mission of trying to reach them.
Five Italian divers are believed to have died while exploring a cave about 160 meters deep in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, according to Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The recreational limit for diving in the Maldives is 98 feet.
The body of another Italian – a diving instructor – was found earlier outside the cave.
Office of the President of the Maldives via Reuters
Three Finnish divers had arrived on Sunday in the Maldives to make a new plan to search for the bodies of four others, who are believed to be inside the cave system.
The spokesman for the president of the Maldives, Mohamed Hussain Shareef, said the search was suspended after Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defense Force, died due to illness underwater after being transferred to a hospital in the capital on Saturday.
Mahudhee was buried with military honors at a funeral attended by President Mohamed Muizzu on Saturday night. The diver was part of the team that informed Muizzu about the rescue plan when he visited the search area on Friday.
Shareef said on Sunday the three Finnish divers, experts in diving and cave diving, joined the Maldives coast guard in a meeting aimed at mapping out a new search strategy.
Bad weather has repeatedly hampered rescue efforts.
The first teams have already dived to identify and mark the entrance to the cave system where the Italians disappeared. The cause of death is still under investigation.
The victims were identified as Monica Montefalcone, associate professor of ecology 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.
Benedetti’s body was found on Thursday near the mouth of the cave.
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 on Friday. However, the scuba diving activity where the fatal accident occurred was not part of an organized study and was “conducted in secret,” it said.
Greenpeace via AP 
The statement also said that the other two victims – student Sommacal and recent graduate Galtieri – were not involved in scientific work.
Carlo Sommacal, Montefalcone’s husband and Giorgia’s father, expressed doubts about the accident, saying “something must have happened down there” because of the extensive experience of his wife and daughter.
Speaking to Italian TV, he described Montefalcone as a careful and disciplined diver who would never put his daughter or other colleagues in danger.
The Italian tour operator that ran the dive tour denied authorizing or knowing about the deep dive that violated local limits, its lawyer told Italian daily Corriere della Sera on Saturday.
Orietta Stella, representing Albatros Top Boat, said the boat operator was “not aware” the team was planning to exceed the legal limit. The border requires special permission from the Maldivian maritime authorities and the tour operator “wouldn’t allow it,” he said.
