“THEY WERE EXPERTS… SO WHAT WENT WRONG?” The deaths of 5 Italian divers in the Maldives are now being called the deadliest single diving tragedy in the country’s tourism history. The group entered the waters near Vaavu Atoll expecting a routine exploration dive. Hours later, they vanished inside one of the region’s most dangerous underwater cave systems. Authorities say only one body has been recovered so far… while the others remain trapped deep below the surface. Strong winds, violent currents, and collapsing underwater visibility have repeatedly forced rescue divers to stop searching. But the biggest mystery is growing darker by the hour. Investigators are now examining why the team descended nearly twice the permitted recreational diving depth. Was it a navigational error… a hidden current… or a terrifying underwater emergency nobody saw coming?

Husband Speaks Out After Wife and Daughter Died While Scuba Diving as Search for Remaining Bodies Suspended

“The divers are reported to have died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50 metres,” Italy’s foreign ministry said in a statement

Monica Montefalcone and Giorgia Sommacal.Credit : University of Genoa; Giorgia Sommacal/Instagram

NEED TO KNOW

A man whose wife and daughter are among the 5 victims of a scuba diving disaster in the Maldives is speaking out
“Something must have happened,” Carlo Sommacal said during an interview with an Italian television station
So far, only one body has been recovered

A man who lost his wife and daughter in a scuba diving disaster in the Maldives said that he believes something unexpected must have happened during the group’s excursion to an underwater cave.

Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal and three other divers embarked on a cave-diving trip in the Vaavu Atoll, about 40 miles away from the capital Malé, on Thursday, May 14, but never resurfaced, the BBC and 9 News Australia reported.

“The divers are reported to have died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50 metres [164 feet],” Italy’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Giorgia Sommacal.Giorgia Sommacal/Instagram

In addition to Montefalcone, an associate professor at the University of Genoa, and her daughter, a biomedical engineering student, the school identified the victims as research fellow Muriel Oddenino and recent graduate Federico Gualtieri.

The university said Montefalcone was in the Malvides for a research trip and that Oddenino was working with her, but that the diving trip was not a part of the “scientific mission,” according to the The New York Times.

The fifth victim was identified by the Associated Press and the Times as diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.

Speaking with local newspaper La Repubblica, Montefalcone’s husband said that his wife “would never have put the life of our daughter or other kids at risk.”

Monica Montefalcone.University of Genoa

“My only certainty is that my wife is one of the best scuba divers on the face of the earth,” he told the newspaper, according to the Times.

“Something must have happened,” he remarked in a separate interview with an Italian television station, the AP reported.

So far, officials have only recovered one body from an underwater cave, but they believe the four remaining bodies are there as well, the BBC reported.

Although recovery operations were suspended on Friday, May 15, due to rough seas, they are expected to begin again on Saturday May 16, according to the AP.

In a statement on Friday, May 15, Italy’s foreign ministry said there were 20 other Italian nationals who went out to sea that day, but did not take part in the dive and remain unharmed.

“Due to adverse weather conditions, it is not yet clear whether they will be able to reach the vessel in distress, which has in the meantime moved in search of a safe harbour,” officials added. “The vessel is awaiting an improvement in weather conditions in order to return to Malé.”

An investigation is ongoing.