Recovery operations have concluded for a tragic diving incident in the Maldives that claimed five Italian lives, with officials announcing Wednesday that the final two bodies have been brought to the surface from a deepwater cave.
The fatal accident involved five Italian divers who had obtained proper authorization to conduct coral research at the Devana Kandu location. The team was exploring an underwater cave system when the tragedy unfolded last week.
Officials from the Maldives president’s media office confirmed the completion of recovery efforts for what has become the island nation’s most devastating diving incident on record. Investigators are examining several potential factors that may have contributed to the deaths, including the possibility that the diving team went much deeper than anticipated.
“Both remaining divers recovered from the cave and brought to the surface,” a media office representative stated Wednesday. The official confirmed that all recovered remains have been transported to a morgue facility in Male, the nation’s capital.
The research expedition was headed by Monica Montefalcone, 51, a University of Genoa professor and marine ecologist who was a regular diver in Maldivian waters in the Indian Ocean, and also included her daughter.
Recovery efforts began Friday when the team instructor’s body was retrieved. Two additional divers’ remains were brought up Tuesday after Finnish specialists were brought in to assist with the complex operation.
The search and recovery mission also claimed another life when a Maldives National Defence Force diver participating in the effort died Saturday from decompression illness while attempting to locate the bodies.
