THE murky “shark cave” where five Italian divers were tragically killed in the Maldives has been seen in haunting footage – as new theories behind their deaths emerge.
Four bodies were found at a depth of 160ft on Monday following a gruelling search operation by expert Finnish divers.
A diver swimming through the gloom in search of the victim’s bodiesCredit: youtube/Neva Divers
Five Italians were found at a depth of 160ft in ‘shark’s cave’ in the MaldivesCredit: youtube/Neva Divers
The bodies of Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa, her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, marine biologist Federico Gualtieri and researcher Muriel Oddenino were found on Monday.
The group – accompanied by Gianluca Benedetti who was found the same day the group went missing – were located inside Thinwana Kandu cave, also known as “shark cave”.
Ahmed Shaam, a Maldives government spokesperson said: The four bodies were found inside the cave, not only inside the cave but well inside the cave into the third segment of the cave, which is the largest part. Pretty much together.”
The body of the fifth victim, Gianluca, was recovered on Thursday near the mouth of the cave.
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Chilling footage has shown the inside of the Thinwana Kandu cave – locally referred to as “Shark Cave”.
It is located about 60 miles from the capital Male, is about 60 metres long and is divided into three chambers.
In the terrifying clip, a diver traverses a series of narrow winding passages inside the structure.
The cave appears to be devoid of life – aside from one lone sting ray hovering around the eerie complex.
The diver division of the Maldives National Defence Force preparing to dive in search of the bodies on SaturdayCredit: EPA
One military diver tragically died on Saturday searching for the bodiesCredit: Reuters
Several terrifying theories have been put forward as to what transpired on the daring 160ft dive to the murky cave.
One involves the adverse weather conditions confronting the Atoll on the trip.
A yellow weather warning was issued just a day earlier, as powerful 30mph winds swept through the popular holiday destination.
Monica’s husband Carlo Sommacal told La Repubblica daily: “She would never have put her daughter’s life or the lives of the other children at risk out of recklessness.
“Something happened down there.”
It has been confirmed that Monica and Muriel were conducting the trip for research.
Carlo described his late wife as “one of the best divers on earth” and insisted that she would not have taken the risk had she been aware of the warning.
He said: “If there really was a yellow alert, they must have dived in earlier. I’m ready to swear anything about Monica’s behaviour.”
An American hobby diver has speculated it could have been “murder”.
Self-described deep-sea diver Marc Randazza said on X: “I’ve been diving for 30 years. Rescue and deep dive certified.
“These divers were effectively dead the moment they went in the water.
“At 150ft, with recreational gear and without a special gas mix, you’re already dead.
“There was no possible way they were coming back, whether they panicked or not.
“That dive plan was never going to end with any of them alive.”
The elite unit of Sami Paakkarinen, Jenni Westerlund, and Patrik Grönqvist located the remaining four bodies after Maldivian authorities recovered one of them on Thursday, Italy‘s foreign ministry said.
The bodies have been found but a recovery mission will take place over the next few days.
Divers have been instructed to immediately turn back if they encounter difficultiesCredit: youtube/Neva Divers
On an earlier mission, one Maldivian diver lost his life searching for the bodiesCredit: youtube/Neva Divers
A Maldivian government spokesperson told BBC: “Further dives [are] to be carried out in the coming days to recover the bodies.”
They also said specialised equipment for the recovery is being provided by the UK and Australia – to be used alongside underwater scooters and gas tanks which can recycle air.
Each attempt to dive and retrieve the bodies lasts about three hours – and it is immediately aborted if any obstacles are encountered.
Expert divers have located the bodies of the victims at the deepest section of the cave.
But now the more difficult task of bringing them back to land is underway.
Maldivian authorities are expected to recover two of the four bodies on Tuesday, and another pair on Wednesday.
DAN Europe, the diving safety organisation in charge of the operation, said: “DAN Europe confirms that the international search & recovery team deployed to the Maldives has successfully completed the first operational objective of the mission following today’s initial technical cave dive at the Dhekunu Kandu site, in Vaavu Atoll.”
They added: “This marks an important milestone in an operation that remains technically demanding, emotionally challenging, and operationally complex.”
Monica’s daughter Giorgia Sommacal was one of the victimsCredit: UGC/UNPIXS
University researcher Muriel Oddenino was also on the diveCredit: UGC/UNPIXS
The body of diving instructor and boat captain Gianluca Padua has been recoveredCredit: UGC/UNPIXS
Recovery teams are still trying to bring back the body of Federico GualtieriCredit: UGC/UNPIXS
They said that the coming days “will be dedicated to the highly delicate recovery procedures”.
The unit, which was assembled in 48 hours and dispatched by DAN Europe, searched the Alimatha cave complex near the Vaavu Atoll.
Paakkarinen, who has been cave diving since 2004, and Grönqvist, gained international renown for their role in recovering surviving divers in the 2014 Plura incident in Norway.
The elite Finnish team can dive to depths of nearly 500ft – a key skill which helped them locate the tourists.
But the mission is incredibly dangerous.
On Saturday a Maldivian military rescue diver lost his life trying to recover the bodies – bringing the total death toll to six.
Mohamed Mahudhee died from decompression illness – when bubbles form in the bloodstream from coming out of water too quickly.
The Italian foreign ministry are still investigating the cause of death for the five Italian divers.
There were 20 other tourists on the Duke of York yacht when the five Italians departed the vessel before going missing.
They have all returned to Italy following the terrifying ordeal.
But it has since emerged that the Duke of York yacht did not have a permit allowing dives of more than 100ft.
The Italian team were found at a depth of 160ft – in clear breach of the rules.
Shafraz Naeem, a veteran of the Maldives National Defence Force, has revealed that only the most experienced divers can descend to such depths.
The ex-military diver said: “I’ve done at least 50 dives in the Alimatha caves, taking the right precautions and using the right equipment,” he said, according to Il Giornale.
“Each time it was a fantastic experience, but I was fully aware of the
extreme risks I was taking.
“Expertise and precaution are necessary: for me, descending to Alimatha wasn’t difficult. I’m a cave diver, and I always had the right gas mix, the right equipment, and a backup system.”
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Naeem has questioned why the group were allowed on the mission in the first place.
At such depths he stressed that just one “unexpected event can quickly turn into tragedy”.
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