Five Italian divers have died in the Maldives. The news, first reported by local media, was later confirmed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The circumstances of the tragedy are not yet entirely clear, but according to initial reconstructions, the group was participating in a dive to explore several caves at a depth of 50 meters near the Vaavu atoll.
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The first body, that of Gianluca Benedetti, a diving instructor from Veneto (northeast Italy), was found in a cave. “It is believed that the other four divers are in the same cavity, about 60 meters long,” said the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), which warned that the rescue operation is extremely dangerous and high-risk.
One of the victims is Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor at the University of Genoa, a marine environment specialist and one of the leading Italian experts in the study of posidonia, according to the institution itself. According to the newspaper La Repubblica, her daughter, Giorgia Sommaca, 23 years old, a Biomedical Engineering student at the University of Genoa, was also with her.
According to the Adnkronos agency, the group was traveling aboard the Duke of York, a vessel specialized in diving cruises. The company states that it offers dives year-round in Maldivian waters and has support for rebreather, the breathing system used in technical dives.
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The Maldivian police received the disappearance report around 1:45 p.m., and during the search operations, the bodies were located.
Weather conditions may have played a role. The meteorological service had issued a yellow alert for the area, with winds between 25 and 30 miles per hour and gusts up to 50.
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