It’s been called the worst diving disaster in the Maldives’ history: five divers drowned last week while exploring an underwater cave system. Oxygen toxicity and panic were cited as contributing factors. To add to the tragedy, a Maldivian military diver was also killed looking for the bodies.
The recovery of the bodies took days, but the final two were retrieved on Wednesday. Sadly, it seems as if the group might have taken a wrong turn navigating the cave system, and they didn’t have the oxygen needed for such errors. The other question is, why did this group descend 30 meters past the maximum depth for divers (via CBS News):
Finnish divers working for DAN Europe found the Italians in a corridor with a dead end inside the cave complex, which sits about 165 feet underwater, Italy's la Repubblica daily reported.
"There was no way out from there," the company's CEO Laura Marroni was quoted by la Repubblica as saying.
The Italian divers were identified as Monica Montefalcone, an associate ecology professor at the University of Genoa; her daughter Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.
[…]
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.
[…]
"The divers' bodies were all found inside, as if they had mistaken it for the right one," the paper said.
If they had taken that corridor by mistake, "then it would have been very difficult to return, especially with the limited air supply," Marroni said.
The divers were using standard tanks, meaning they had very little time at that depth to visit the second cave, she said.
"We're talking about 10 minutes, maybe even less," Marroni said.
[…]
Authorities in the Maldives are investigating how the Italians were allowed to descend to a depth of 60 meters when the Indian Ocean country permits a maximum depth of 30 meters for tourists.
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This was either group suicide or murder.
— Marc J. Randazza 🇺🇸 🇮🇹 🇧🇷 (@marcorandazza) May 17, 2026
I've been diving for 30 years. Rescue and deep dive certified. These divers were effectively dead the moment they went in the water.
At 150 feet, with recreational gear and without special gas mix, you're already dead.
I'm an… https://t.co/BLUcWwmfow
Just awful.
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