Finnish divers arrive to remap the search for the bodies of four Italian divers

Photo caption: This image released by the Maldives President's Media Division, shows divers preparing to search for the four missing Italian divers near Alimathaa Island, Vaavu Atoll (AP Photo)

MALDIVES

MALE (AP) — Three Finnish divers arrived in the Maldives Sunday to draw up a fresh plan in the search for the bodies of four Italian divers believed to be deep inside an underwater cave. The initial search was suspended after a local military diver died during a perilous mission to try to reach them.

The group of five Italian divers is believed to have died while exploring a cave at a depth of about 50 metres (160 feet) in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, according to Italy's Foreign Ministry. The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30 metres (98 feet).

Maldives presidential spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef said the search was suspended after Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defence Force, died of underwater decompression sickness after being transferred to a hospital in the capital on Saturday.

Shareef said Sunday that three Finnish divers, experts in deep and cave diving, have arrived in the archipelago nation and joined the Maldives coast guard in a meeting aimed at mapping a new search strategy.

Mahudhee was buried with military honours in a funeral attended by President Mohamed Muizzu on Saturday night. The diver was part of the group that had briefed Muizzu on the rescue plan when he visited the search site on Friday.

Rough weather has repeatedly hampered rescue efforts.

Search operations on Saturday involved eight local divers who worked in shifts to locate the bodies, the Italian Foreign Ministry said. Initial teams had already dived to identify and mark the entrance to the cave system where the Italians disappeared. The cause of the deaths remains under investigation.

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said everything possible would be done to bring the victims home. He offered his condolences for the death of the Maldivian diver during the rescue efforts.

QUESTIONS OVER EQUIPMENT AND DEPTH

The victims have been identified as Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, according to the Maldivian government.

Benedetti's body was recovered on Thursday from near the mouth of the cave. Authorities believe the remaining four had entered 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 Friday. However, the scuba diving activity during which the deadly accident occurred was not part of the planned research and was “undertaken privately”, it said.

The statement also said the two other victims — student Sommacal and recent graduate Gualtieri — were not involved in the scientific mission.

Carlo Sommacal, Montefalcone's husband and Giorgia's father, expressed doubts over the accident, saying that “something must have happened down there”, given his wife and daughter's extensive experience.

Speaking to Italian TV, he described Montefalcone as a careful and highly disciplined diver who would never put her daughter or other colleagues at risk.

The Italian tour operator that managed the diving trip denied authorising 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 operator “did not know” the group planned to descend beyond 30 metres. That threshold requires special permission from Maldivian maritime authorities and the tour operator “would have never allowed it”, she said.

The dive far exceeded what was planned for a scientific cruise focused on coral sampling at standard depths, Stella added. The victims were experienced divers, but the equipment used appeared to be standard recreational gear rather than technical equipment suited for deep cave diving, she said.