Rescue divers involved in recovering the bodies believe the group may have become lost inside the cave system because of a “sand wall,” leading to panic, oxygen depletion, and ultimately death.

On May 21, Laura Marroni, CEO of DAN Europe — the organization overseeing the recovery mission for the five Italian tourists who died in the Maldives — revealed new findings that may explain the cause of what has been described as the deadliest diving accident in the island nation’s history.

The tragedy occurred on May 14 inside an underwater cave system in the Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, killing five Italian divers. The victims were scientists and students from the University of Genoa in Italy. The group was led by Professor Monica Montefalcone, 51, who was conducting research on an undisclosed coral species. Among the victims was her 22-year-old daughter, Giorgia Sommaca.

According to rescue teams, the cave entrance was located about 50 meters below the ocean surface. The first section was a large, bright chamber with a sandy floor. Passing through it led divers into a narrow corridor with very little natural light, though visibility remained manageable with specialized diving lights.

The corridor stretched nearly 30 meters long and 3 meters wide, leading to a second chamber. This chamber was large, circular, and completely dark. Between the corridor and the second chamber lay an underwater sandbank.

Divers said crossing the sandbank to enter the second chamber was relatively easy, but when attempting to leave, the sandbank appeared like a wall, obscuring the exit corridor.

An illustration released by the rescue team showed the so-called “sand wall” theory.

To the left of the underwater sandbank was another corridor extending several dozen meters. All five victims were found inside this passage, suggesting they may have mistaken it for the correct exit route, according to Marroni. She added that if the group swam into the wrong corridor, finding their way back would have been extremely difficult, especially with limited air supplies.

The Italian group was using standard scuba tanks, meaning they had less than 10 minutes at that depth to explore the second chamber.

“Realizing you’ve gone the wrong way while running low on air — likely after swimming back and forth trying to find the exit — must have been terrifying,” Marroni said. “At that point, you begin breathing faster, and your air supply disappears even more quickly.”

Sami Paakkarinen, one of three Finnish rescue divers involved in recovering the bodies, rejected an earlier theory suggesting the victims had been sucked into the cave by a strong underwater current.

That theory had been proposed by Alfonso Bolognini, president of the Italian Association of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine, who believed the divers may have been pulled into the cave system by a powerful Venturi effect — a phenomenon where water accelerates through a narrow passage, creating a pressure drop and strong suction force.

However, Paakkarinen said the current at the site changed direction every 12 hours, creating predictable circulation patterns. When rescue divers entered the cave, they only experienced what he described as “a mild current.”

“It wasn’t strong enough to suck anyone in,” he said.

The five Italian victims were identified as marine ecology professor Monica Montefalcone from the University of Genoa, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, researchers Federico Gualtieri and Muriel Oddenino, and dive instructor Gianluca Benedetti. Representatives from the University of Genoa confirmed the team had been conducting scientific research focused on marine environments and climate change impacts.

A Maldivian military diver also died during the search and recovery operation.

Cave diving is considered an extremely technical and dangerous form of diving that requires specialized training, equipment, and strict safety procedures. Risks become significantly greater in environments where divers cannot swim directly to the surface.

Experts say divers can easily become disoriented or lost inside cave systems, especially when sediment clouds are stirred up, drastically reducing visibility.

A sediment cloud occurs when fine silt and soft debris accumulated on the cave floor are disturbed by fin kicks or air bubbles. The resulting underwater haze can reduce visibility to zero within seconds, rendering even powerful dive lights useless.

Over the past six years, the Maldives — a nation made up of 1,192 coral islands — has recorded at least 112 tourist deaths linked to marine activities, including 42 fatalities from scuba diving or snorkeling accidents.