Italian prosecutors have opened a culpable homicide investigation into the Maldives cave diving tragedy that claimed the lives of five Italian divers, adding a significant new legal dimension to one of the deadliest diving disasters in the country’s history.
The investigation, being handled by prosecutors in Rome, will examine the circumstances surrounding the fatal deep-water cave expedition in Vaavu Atoll, including operational planning, authorisations, and whether appropriate safety procedures were followed during the dive.
According to reporting from ABC News and Italian media, the legal probe is running alongside a separate investigation already underway in the Maldives, where authorities are examining whether the group exceeded authorised diving depths and whether cave penetration activities were properly disclosed during the expedition approval process.
Maldivian officials have stated the dive permit issued to the group covered marine research activities at the Devana Kandu site, but authorities say they were unaware the expedition involved technical cave diving at depths estimated between 50 and 60 metres.
The five 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.
The tragedy unfolded last week when the group failed to return from a dive inside a deep underwater cave system near Alimathaa in Vaavu Atoll. Recovery operations quickly escalated into a major international effort involving Maldivian military and police divers alongside Finnish cave diving specialists Sami Paakkarinen, Jenni Westerlund, and Patrik Grönqvist.
According to Reuters reporting published by WHBL News, specialist divers used closed-circuit rebreathers during long penetration dives to recover bodies from the third and deepest chamber of the cave system.
The operation also claimed the life of Maldivian rescue diver Staff Sgt. Mohamed Mahudhee, who died following an earlier recovery attempt inside the cave. Officials have not publicly confirmed a cause of death, although several reports have suggested decompression-related complications may have been involved.
Italian prosecutors are expected to order autopsies once the victims’ bodies are repatriated to Italy, according to reporting from The Standard Maldives. Investigators are also expected to question passengers and crew members connected to the liveaboard vessel Duke of York, whose operating licence has been suspended by Maldivian authorities pending the outcome of the investigation.
The Maldives government has meanwhile indicated its own inquiry will focus on whether organisers “took the correct precautions” and carried out adequate planning before the dive expedition.
The incident has generated intense discussion across the international diving community due to the technical nature of the dive, the complexity of the recovery operation, and growing questions surrounding operational oversight in deep cave diving expeditions.
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