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Rescue diver dies amid search for remains of 4 who perished in Maldives ...
Updated on: May 16, 2026 / 2:01 PM EDT / CBS/AP Add CBS News on Google The Maldives has suspended the search for the bodies of 4 Italians who perished in a scuba accident after a Maldivian military diver died Saturday while searching for the remains, which are believed to be deep inside an underwater cave.Maldives Presidential Spokesman Mohammed Hussain Shareef said that Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defense Force, died of underwater decompression sickness after being transferred to a hospital in the capital. "The death goes to show the difficulty of the mission," he said. The rescue diver was searching for the remains of four divers from a group of five Italian divers believed to have died while exploring a cave at a depth of about 160 feet in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday, the Italian Foreign Ministry said. The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30 meters, or about 98 feet.Earlier, Shareef said the searchers had prepared a plan based on their progress exploring the cave on Friday. Mahudhee was part of the group that briefed Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu on the rescue plan when he visited the search site on Friday. Rough weather has repeatedly hampered rescue efforts. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said everything possible would be done to bring the victims home.This image released by the Maldives President's Media Division, shows divers preparing to search near Alimathaa Island, Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, Saturday, May 15, 2026. Maldives President's Media Division via AP His ministry said it was coordinating with Divers Alert Network, a specialist diving organization, to support recovery operations and the repatriation of the bodies. Two Italians — a deep-sea rescue expert and a cave diving expert — are expected to join the recovery effort, Shareef said.Some victims were part of scientific mission The victims have been identified as Monica Montefalcone, an associate ecology professor at the University of Genoa; her daughter Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, according to the Maldivian government.Montefalcone and Oddenino were in the Maldives on an official scientific mission to monitor marine environments and study the effects of climate change on tropical biodiversity, the University of Genoa said in a statement Friday. It added, however, that the scuba diving activity during which the deadly accident occurred was not part ...
Maldives military diver dies while trying to recover scuba diving ...
The bodies of four of the scuba diving victims remain missing.May 16, 2026, 9:27 AMA Maldives military diver has died while working to recover the bodies of victims who died while scuba diving in an underwater wave, according to the Maldives National Defense Force.Five Italian nationals, including a mother and her daughter, died while scuba diving in the deep underwater cave in the Maldives, according to Italian and Maldivian officials. The divers went missing Thursday while exploring a cave in Vaavu Atoll, according to the Maldives National Defense Force.The body of one of the divers has since been recovered in a cave about 200 feet deep, authorities said. The remaining four divers are believed to be inside the 200-foot-long cave, according to the Maldives National Defense Force.Panoramic view of Vaavu Atoll, near Keyodhoo, Maldives.Sergey Chips/Adobe StockOfficials called the recovery effort a "very dangerous, high-risk operation." The search was suspended at one point on Friday due to bad weather, The Associated Press reported.Maldivian presidential spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef extended his "deepest condolences" to the people of Italy following the "tragic diving incident" in a statement on Friday. He said the search for the four remaining divers "remains our highest priority."Aerial view of Fulidhoo island in the Vaavu atoll in the Maldives.Adobe StockItaly's Foreign Ministry said the five Italian nationals died "while attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50 meters."Popular ReadsThe Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology and the University of Genoa (UniGe) identified the deceased divers as Monica Montefalcone, a marine scientist and associate professor at UniGe; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, a UniGe biomedical engineering student; Muriel Oddenino, a UniGe research fellow; and marine biologist Federico Gualtieril, a recent UniGe graduate in marine biology and ecology.The institute also identified one of the victims as diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.Montefalcone had won multiple awards for her work to study and protect the marine environment, the institute said.Monica Montefalcone one of the five Italian scuba divers who died near Alimathaa in the Maldives archipelago while exploring an underwater cave.Greenpeace via APGiorgia Sommacal, Federico Gualtieri and Muriel Oddenino.FacebookThe Italian ambassador from the embassy in Colombo arrived in the Maldives on Friday to meet with Maldives National Defence Force Coast...
Maldives diver dies in operation to recover bodies of Italians from ...
A Maldivian military diver has died during a high-risk operation to recover the bodies of four of the Italian scuba divers who drowned while exploring a deep underwater cave in the Maldives.
Maldives diver dies in search for bodies of drowned Italians
A diver has died while searching for the bodies of a group of Italians who perished during a deep-sea cave expedition in the Maldives.
