The bodies of four Italian divers who went missing since Thursday have been located inside a cave in Vaavu Atoll, according to a statement by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) on social media.
The divers, Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, Muriel Oddenino, and marine biology graduate Federico Gualtieri, had failed to surface after a dive near Alimathaa Island.
MNDF said the recovery was carried out during a joint search-and-recovery operation conducted by the MNDF Coast Guard, the Maldives Police Service, and a team of experts arranged by the Italian Government. The bodies were found in one of the deepest chambers of the cave.
The discovery followed the deployment of a specialist cave rescue team from Finland, including Sami Paakkarinen, Patrik Grönqvist, and Jenni Westerlund.
According to DAN Europe, which coordinated the Finnish team, the dive began at 8:30 CET and lasted around three hours, using closed-circuit rebreathers and high-performance DPVs with fully redundant life-support systems.
DAN Europe also reported that the search team confirmed their finding by sending a torn page from a logbook to the surface, reading: “WE FOUND ALL FOUR.”
The coming days will focus on delicate recovery operations. Further details on planning and timelines will be shared in the coming hours as coordination continues with the MNDF and Italian authorities in Malé.
