Rescuer: Italian divers who died in Maldives lacked proper cave-diving gear

A member of the diving team that recovered the bodies of four Italian divers in the Maldives has stated that the equipment worn by the deceased was "not optimal."

Discovery of the Bodies

Finnish diver Sami Paakkarinen, who captured images from inside the cave where the four Italians were found earlier this week, told Italian media that "the bodies were all together in a section of the cave" that he described as very deep and "very demanding."

The body of the first diver had been recovered days earlier, shortly after the five individuals disappeared in a diving accident in the 60-meter-deep cave located on Vaavu Atoll.

Several days passed before the rest of the group was found deep in the cave by a team of Finnish and Maldivian specialist divers. One of them, a Maldivian national, died last weekend while participating in the search.

The incident is considered the worst single diving accident in this small Indian Ocean nation, a popular tourist destination known for its chain of coral islands.

The four bodies found earlier this week are expected to be repatriated to Italy this Saturday, with autopsies to be carried out in the coming days.

Questions About Diving Equipment

Paakkarinen told La Repubblica newspaper that upon finding the bodies, the team realized the cause could have been a "tragic human error," although he noted that it will ultimately be up to investigators to determine what happened.

He also questioned why the divers entered the cave "without the proper equipment," noting that neither he nor his rescue partners would have ever ventured into such an environment without a diving coil or a safety guide rope — which he described as "Ariadne's thread." The diving coil is used to guide divers through complicated or dangerous underwater terrain.

"It is generally well known among those who visit caves that it is not very sensible to do so without a safety line," he said.

He added that "unfortunately, in the majority of cave diving accidents, the main cause is usually human error."

Paakkarinen was cautious and avoided going into details, but stated that "the equipment we found them with was not optimal" since "they were not wearing speleodiving equipment."

What Is Known About the Accident

Two of the Italian divers — Professor Monica Montefalcone and researcher Muriel Oddenino, from the University of Genoa — were in the Maldives studying the impact of climate change on biodiversity.

Giorgia Sommacal — daughter of Professor Montefalcone and a student at the university — and Federico Gualtieri — a recent graduate — were also part of the diving group.

The first Italian victim recovered was nautical operations manager and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.

The group submerged in the waters of Vaavu Atoll on May 14 and were reported missing after failing to surface later.

Police reported that weather conditions were poor in the area — located about 100 km south of the capital, Malé — at the time the group disappeared. A yellow alert was issued for passenger vessels and fishermen.

The Maldivian rescue diver who died while searching for the victims' bodies was identified as Sergeant Mohamed Mahdhee. Mahdhee was part of a team of eight rescue divers trying to locate the bodies last Saturday. The other divers immediately dove back in and found Mahdhee unconscious.

An investigation has been opened to determine the causes of the accident.