Military diver dies during search for bodies of drowned Italians in Maldives

An aide of the Maldivian president said the military diver died of underwater decompression sickness. He was rushed to a hospital, where he succumbed to the condition, Maldives Presidential Spokesperson Mohammed Hussain Shareef said.

In Short

• The Maldivian military diver succumbed to decompression sickness
• Only one body recovered after 5 Italians died in scuba diving incident
• They were trying to explore an underwater cave at a depth of 50 metres

A military diver died on Saturday while searching for the bodies of four Italians who lost their lives in a scuba diving mishap in the Maldives. Staff Sergeant Mohamed Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defence Force, has been identified as the diver who died in the operation to retrieve the bodies.

An aide of the Maldivian president said the service member died of underwater decompression sickness. Mahudhee was rushed to a hospital, where he succumbed to the condition, Maldives Presidential Spokesperson Mohammed Hussain Shareef said.

"The death goes to show the difficulty of the mission," the official was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. While the search continues for the remains of four Italian nationals, the body of a fifth one was recovered on Thursday.

The incident, which killed all five of them, occurred in the Vaavu Atoll, where the group had been attempting to explore a series of underwater caves at a depth of around 50 metres. The limit for recreational diving in the Maldives is 30 metres.

The five Italian citizens who drowned in the mishap have been identified as Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; researcher Muriel Oddenino; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, per the Maldivian government.

Rescuers have only been able to recover Benedetti's body so far. The body was found near the mouth of a cave and authorities believe that the remaining four had entered the underwater den.

Montefalcone and Oddenino were in the Maldives as part of an official scientific expedition to monitor marine environments and study the effects of climate change on tropical biodiversity, according to a statement released by the University of Genoa.

The scuba diving session, however, was not part of the planned research and was "undertaken privately," the university added. It further said that Sommacal, who was a student, and Gualtieri, who was a recent graduate, were not involved in the scientific mission.

While the cause of the deaths remains under investigation, the tragedy appears to have arisen from a flagrant violation of safety guidelines as diving at 50 metres below sea level exceeds the maximum depth recommended for recreational divers by the majority of established scuba certification bodies.

In fact, dives deeper than 40 metres are classified as technical diving and require specialised training and equipment. According to Italian officials, the five Italian nationals had boarded a vessel called the 'Duke of York' during the expedition.

Around 20 other Italians on the same boat were unharmed, they said. The tourism ministry of the Maldives has said that it has suspended the vessel's operating licence pending a probe.

- Ends
(With inputs from agencies)