Tragedy in the Maldives: 5 divers were killed in an accident in an underwater cave

The Italian Foreign Ministry in Rome announced last night (Thursday) that five Italian citizens were killed in a diving accident in the Maldives. This is the deadliest diving accident recorded in the country. According to the announcement, the divers were killed when they tried to explore caves at a depth of about 50 meters in the Vabu Atoll area.

According to the information provided, four of the victims were members of the team from the University of Genoa: professor of ecology Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sumcal who was a student, research associate Muriel Odenino and Federico Gualtieri, a marine biology graduate. The fifth fatality has been identified as Gianluca Benedetti, a boat operations manager and diving instructor.

The Maldivian military reported that one body was recovered from a cave about 60 meters below the surface of the water, and that the other four divers are believed to be in the same location. Divers equipped with special equipment were sent to the area, and the army defined the search operations as “a very high risk operation”.

The group entered the water yesterday morning. The crew members of the submarine they were on launched an emergency call after the five did not come back to the surface. The local police stated that the weather conditions in the area were difficult at the time of the incident, at a site located about 100 kilometers south of the capital Male, where a “yellow warning” was issued at the time for vessels and fishermen.

Although such cases are relatively rare in the Maldives, several fatal accidents have been reported in recent years. In December, an experienced British diver was killed in a diving incident near a resort on the island of Aidahu, and her husband died five days later after falling ill. In 2024, a Japanese member of parliament was killed while diving at Labiani Atoll.