International cave divers have arrived in the Maldives to intensify the search for the bodies of four Italians who died while scuba diving on the paradise island, a day after a military man died during the recovery effort.
Three Finnish divers from the global scuba safety organization Divers Alert Network arrived in the Maldives on Sunday and were on their way to join the local coast guard to work on a new strategy to complete the mission, Maldives government chief spokesperson Mohamed Hussein Sharif said.
“They were nominated by Italy and have completed deep diving and cave diving all over the world,” Sharif told CNN.
A fourth diving expert is expected to join the Finnish team on Sunday, as well as specialist equipment from Australia and the UK.
Five Italian divers died after exploring Vaabu Atoll on Thursday, prompting a multinational recovery mission. They were on a scuba diving expedition aboard the Duke of York with 20 other Italians, Italy’s Foreign Ministry said.
Sharif said the body of diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti was found at the entrance to the cave, and authorities believe the other four people remain inside the cave.
They are Monica Montefalcone, associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter Giorgia Somacar; Marine biologist Federico Gualtieri. and researcher Muriel Odenino.
Attempts to recover their bodies have already claimed another life, highlighting the danger and complexity of recovery efforts.
Senior military diver sergeant Mohamed Mahdi, 43, died on Saturday during the second recovery operation into the cave. The deepest part of the cave is 70 meters (230 feet) below the surface (about the height of a 20-story building) and 200 meters long.
“He was one of the most advanced divers, which shows how challenging this dive is,” Sharif said.
“He was diving in pairs following protocol, but returned to the surface when his partner realized something was wrong and the rest of the team jumped in to save him.”
Mahdi was buried with full military honors at a funeral in Male, where thousands of people paid their respects, including President Mohamed Muiz, tourism and military officials, and foreign ambassadors.
Sharif said each rescue dive is limited to about three hours because of the need for oxygen and decompression.
During Saturday’s recovery effort, two divers released balloons toward the surface to mark the entrance to the cave. This allowed the remaining crew to swim directly towards it and maximize their time inside.
But conditions were extremely difficult, Sharif said, with unpredictable strong currents, narrow passages leading into vast rooms, and total darkness.
“You have to be an expert at this level of diving,” he added.
After surfacing from the depths of the cave, divers must remain in shallow water to decompress before resurfacing.
Authorities believe Mahdi, a member of the national defense force, died from complications during the process.
Sharif said the Maldives has extensive water safety procedures and professional divers, and the archipelago’s marine area is approximately 3,000 times larger than its land mass.
Carlo Sonmacar, Montefalcone’s husband and Giorgia’s father, said he did not know the cause of the accident, saying, “Something must have happened there,” given his wife and daughter’s extensive experience.
He told Italian television that Montefalcone was a careful and disciplined diver who would never put his daughter or other colleagues at risk, according to the Associated Press.
He recalled how his wife sometimes said to him, “I can do this, but you can’t,” and how his wife survived the 2004 tsunami while diving off the coast of Kenya, the paper said.
British Cave Rescue Association diving officer John Volantsen, who played a key role in Thailand’s youth soccer team in 2018, said it was unclear whether ocean currents played a role in the incident, but said the depth and siltation of the cave were “definitely hampering” recovery efforts.
“Essentially it’s a very long walk into a cave, and normally cave divers would have guidelines for finding their way into a cave, and that may have happened to the missing person as well,” he told CNN.
Panic can also affect divers, Volantsen said, and anesthesia, a temporary intoxication caused by breathing compressed air, increases the risk on deeper dives.
An investigation is underway to determine what happened to the divers and how they all reached such depths.
“For recreational and commercial diving, by law no one is allowed to go deeper than 30 meters. Unfortunately, even the entrance to the cave is nearly 50 meters below, so this incident appears to have happened even deeper,” Sharif said.
Sharif said the ship’s license had been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation and that “everything will be investigated.”
An Italian travel company that manages diving trips in the Maldives has denied approval or knowledge of deep dives that violate local restrictions, a lawyer for the company told Italian daily Corriere della Sera on Saturday, the Associated Press reported.
Orietta Stella, president of Albatross Top Boat, said the operator was “not aware” of the group’s plans to descend more than 30 meters. Crossing that threshold requires special permission from the Maldives Maritime Authority, which tour operators “never granted”, she says.
Although the victim was an experienced diver, the equipment used appeared to be standard recreational equipment rather than technical equipment suitable for deep cave diving, she said.
He also clarified that Albatros only sells cruises and does not own ships or employ crew, but hires locally.
CNN has reached out to Albatross Top Boat for comment.
According to the Associated Press, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would do everything possible to return the victims’ remains.
The University of Genoa has paid tribute to the four missing divers who studied or taught there.
“The entire university community extends its condolences to the families, colleagues, and students with whom they shared their personal and professional journeys.”
The Maldives is highly dependent on tourism, with a population of 500,000 residents, but the country is expected to receive more than 2 million tourists by 2025, according to the Ministry of Tourism.
Italy-based diving tour operator George Corbyn is credited with introducing tourism to the former British colony in 1972, taking journalists and photographers to the Indian Ocean islands as a ‘Robinson Crusoe’ paradise.
Since then, Italy has consistently ranked as one of the largest tourist markets in the Maldives.
“Italy has a very special relationship with us when it comes to tourism and we have been great friends in hospitality for many years,” Sharif said.
“Locals are devastated not only because this is the biggest diving accident in the history of this country, but also because they are Italian.”
Sharif said the Maldivian and Italian governments were in touch “at the highest level” and Muitz sent his “deepest condolences” to Italian President Sergio Mattarella and the families of the victims.
Italy’s special envoy in Rome arrived in the capital Male on Friday and joined rescue workers on a coast guard boat, Italy’s Foreign Ministry said.
