Maldives missing divers search suspended after military diver dies

The search for the bodies of four divers who disappeared in an underwater cave in the Maldives last week has been suspended following another fatality.

Five Italians ventured beneath the waves on Thursday (14 May) to explore the 50m (165ft) deep caves that make up the Vaavu Atoll, around 40 miles from the capital, Malé.

Four members of the group were part of a University of Genoa team, including Monica Montefalcone, a Professor of Ecology, her student daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, and two other researchers, fellow Muriel Oddenino, and marine biology graduate Federico Gualtieri.

The fifth diver was boat operations manager and diving instructor, Gianluca Benedetti.

According to the Italian foreign ministry in Rome, the group 'are believed to have died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50 metres (164ft)'.

The search has now been suspended (Mohamed Afrah / AFP via Getty Images)

They were reported missing by the crew of the diving vessel some time later, after failing to resurface.

The Maldives' military reported over the weekend that the body of one diver, later identified as Benedetti, had been recovered from a cave approximately 60m underwater by recovery teams.

Though the other four divers are believed to be in the same cave, the mission to recover their bodies has now been suspended.

The decision was made after a military diver sadly died while attempting to reach the missing divers.

Two of the divers were mother and daughter (University of Genoa)

Maldives President, Mohamed Muizzu, confirmed on Saturday (16 May) that Mohamed Mahudhee, a Staff Sergeant, had died of decompression sickness after being transferred to a hospital in the capital following a search.

Groups of eight local divers had been working in shifts to find the missing foursome when Mahudhee became unwell.

"The death of a diver of the Maldives National Defence Force while diving in search of missing tourists is a matter of deep sorrow for me and for every Maldivian citizen," an official statement from the President's spokesperson read.

Benedetti's body was later found (Instagram/@albatrostopboat)

"This is heartbreaking news. The death goes to show the difficulty of the mission."

Three Finnish divers, reportedly experts in deep and cave diving, have since arrived arrived in the Maldives. Authorities hope will help them rethink the search strategy.

The University of Genoa also released a statement on Instagram, which reads: "The University of Genoa expresses its deepest condolences for the sudden and tragic demise of Monica Montefalcone, associate professor of Ecology at the Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences – DISTAV, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, a student of Biomedical Engineering at UniGe, Muriel Oddenino, research assistant at DISTAV, and Federico Gualtieri, recent master’s graduate from UniGe in Biology and Marine Ecology.

Muriel Oddenino (Facebook)

"To the families, to the colleagues, to the students and students who have shared their human and professional journey, the closeness of the entire university community goes."

Montefalcone's husband, Carlo Sommacal, told the Italian news outlet La Repubblica that his wife is an 'expert', with over 5,000 dives under her belt.

"She's always been conscientious," he continued. "She would never have put our daughter's or other children's lives at risk.

"She knows what to do even in times of difficulty."

Sommocal also described Benedetti as a 'meticulous' instructor, adding: "He checked everything: the tanks, the weather conditions. He's not a fool."

Federico Gualtieri (Facebook)

He went on: "Monica usually had a GoPro when she went diving. I don't know if she had one the other day.

"If they find it, maybe from there we can understand what happened."