Bodies of four divers to be sent to Italy at dawn

The bodies of the four Italian divers recovered from Dhekunu Kandu dive site near V. Alimathaa are set to be sent to their home countries at dawn.

Five Italian tourists were reported missing at around 01:45 pm on Thursday, June 14^th,  after going on a scuba diving trip to Dhekunu Kandu, a 200-meter-long underwater cave system located near V. Alimatha.

The victims were identified as Monica Montefalcone, a marine biology professor connected to the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.

The body of Benedetti was found at around 06:13pm on the same day, from 60 meters underwater, inside the cave.

The MNDF had continued to conduct recovery dives, before suspending the mission on Saturday, after Coast Guard’s Sergeant First Class Mohamed Mahudhy died during one of the dives. The operation resumed on Monday with a team of three Finnish technical diving experts, one of whom is a cave diving specialist, led by DAN Europe. 

On the same day, the Finnish team located four bodies close together inside the innermost chamber of the cave, its deepest section at a depth of approximately 60 meters. Under Maldivian law, recreational diving is restricted to a maximum depth of 30 meters. 

Two bodies were recovered on Tuesday, followed by the remaining two on Wednesday.

Speaking with Sun on Friday, the Maldivian government’s chief spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef (Mundhu) said the bodies of the four individuals will be sent to Italy at dawn.

The spokesperson further stated that a formal request had been made for the post-mortem findings to be shared with the Maldivian investigative team if autopsies are conducted in Italy.

"The remains of all four individuals are scheduled to be re00d to Italy early tomorrow morning. We have also requested that the results be shared with the Maldivian investigators if a post-mortem examination is performed in their home country," Mundhu stated.

In a statement last night, DAN confirmed the conclusion of the underwater operational phase of the international search and recovery mission. It added that all vered material, including equipment belonging to victims, rescuers, and previous operational teams, were handed over to the Maldivian Police as evidence.

While the tragedy is being investigated by local authorities, Italian authorities have also launched a criminal probe into the deaths.