Finnish specialist cave divers have joined the recovery operation in the Maldives as authorities work to recover the bodies of four Italian divers located inside a deep underwater cave system in Vaavu Atoll.
The international recovery effort follows several days of dangerous operations that also claimed the life of Maldivian rescue diver Staff Sgt. Mohamed Mahudhee during an earlier attempt to reach the victims.
According to reporting from Reuters and multiple international media outlets, Finnish cave diving specialists Sami Paakkarinen, Jenni Westerlund, and Patrik Grönqvist travelled to the Maldives to assist local authorities and the Maldives National Defence Force with navigating and remapping the cave system near Alimathaa in Vaavu Atoll. Their involvement came after local recovery efforts were temporarily suspended following Mahudhee’s death.
During the ongoing operation, authorities confirmed the bodies of the four missing Italian divers had been located inside the cave network at depths reported by CBS News to be between 50 and 60 metres.
The victims have been identified as Monica Montefalcone, an ecology professor at the University of Genoa; her daughter Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti. Benedetti’s body was recovered earlier in the operation, while the remaining four were later located deeper within the cave system.
Reports indicate the underwater cave contains multiple chambers linked by narrow passages, creating highly technical and hazardous conditions for divers. Earlier recovery teams reportedly faced severe limitations due to depth, decompression requirements, confined spaces, and poor conditions inside the cave.
The operation took a further tragic turn when Staff Sgt. Mahudhee lost consciousness during a recovery dive on Saturday. Fellow divers re-entered the cave system to retrieve him, but he later died in hospital. Several reports have suggested decompression-related complications may have been involved, although authorities have not publicly confirmed a cause of death.
The involvement of Paakkarinen, Westerlund, and Grönqvist has drawn significant attention within the technical diving community because of their experience in deep cave and recovery operations. Coverage from CNN affiliate KVIA also reported that the mission has received support from Divers Alert Network Europe (DAN Europe).
The Maldives Ministry of Tourism has meanwhile suspended the operating licence of the liveaboard vessel Duke of York pending the outcome of the investigation.
Authorities have not yet announced when the recovery operation will be completed.
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