The bodies of all four missing Italian divers have been located inside an underwater cave at Vaavu Atoll, Italy’s foreign ministry and the Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF) confirmed on Monday (May 18). The remains have not yet been brought to the surface and further dives will be carried out in the coming days to complete the recovery, MNDF said.
A group of five Italians from a University of Genoa-linked research team failed to return to the surface after diving in deep underwater caves at Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, May 14. One body was recovered later the same day at the cave entrance. The four remaining bodies were located after a fraught multinational search, including new strategy support from Divers Alert Network (DAN) experts from Finland, Maldivian forces and specialist equipment from the United Kingdom and Australia, according to government spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef.
The recovery operation has already claimed one rescuer’s life. Staff Sergeant Mohamed Mahdhee, a Maldivian Defence Force diver, collapsed during Saturday’s search and later died in hospital, after eight rescue divers entered the water and discovered him unconscious on resurfacing. Eight people in total have now died across the original dive and the recovery effort.
The Italian victims include ecology professor Monica Montefalcone, her daughter and several researchers, alongside a diving instructor managing boat operations. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani expressed condolences. Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu visited Vaavu Atoll on Saturday to observe the operation.
Authorities believe the incident may be the deadliest single scuba diving accident in Maldives history, raising new scrutiny of cave-diving safety at the archipelago’s deeper atoll sites — an industry the Maldives shares with regional neighbours including Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka and India recently conducted the DIVEX 2026 joint Navy diving exercise off Colombo, focused on underwater search and salvage.
Sources: Newswire (May 18), Ada Derana, Newswire (May 17).
