The Maldives’ Cave of Death Tragedy: The Horrifying Truth Behind the Missing Professor’s GoPro at a Depth of 60m

Five Italian tourists were killed while exploring a shark-infested cave before expert crews were brought in to recover their remains and underwater gear.

One body was found on Thursday last week, when the disaster took place, while the other four were discovered and brought to the surface earlier this week, The Sun reports.

Local authorities found GoPro cameras belonging to the divers – which will help them piece together their final moments.

Monica Montefalcone, a professor who died in the tragedy alongside her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, 22, was wearing a short wetsuit at the time of the deadly dive, according to Italian news outlet Corriere della Sera.

Monica Montefalcone, one of the five Italians who died in a scuba diving accident in the Maldives, was wearing a short wetsuit. Picture: Supplied

Her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, also died in the tragedy. Picture: Supplied

The suit was not the appropriate type of suit used for deep sea diving, a source told the newspaper.

The five tourists, Ms Montefalcone, Ms Sommacal, Gianluca Benedetti, Federico Gualtieri, and Muriel Oddenino, were diving about 60 metres under the surface when they died, much deeper than local regulations.

Mr Benedetti’s autopsy has now begun, according to authorities, following his repatriation to Italy.

Ms Sommacal and Ms Oddenino were recovered from inside the Thinwana Kandu cave system, locally known as “shark cave” on Wednesday by three expert Finnish divers.

Both bodies of the divers were lifted onto a support boat one at a time after being carried up to the surface by recovery teams.

The expedition team may have been sucked into the complex cave where they ran out of breathing gas trying to escape, another new theory suggests.

A diver swimming through the gloom in search of the victim’s bodies. Picture: YouTube/Neva Divers

A very strong current caused by the cave’s narrow pathway may have created a “Venturi effect” where the water speeds up to maintain a constant flow, causing a pressure drop and creating a vacuum.

Alfonso Bolognini, president of the Italian Society of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine, told Italian outlet Adnkronos: “Two things could have happened after the suction”.

“Either everyone was sucked in, or one was sucked in and the others attempted a rescue.”

On Tuesday, the bodies of Mr Montefalcone and university researcher Mr Gualtieri were recovered.

Boat captain and seasoned diving instructor Mr Benedetti was the first body found last week by rescue teams.

Each attempt to dive and retrieve the bodies lasted around three hours.

Search efforts were hampered by bad weather over the weekend meaning the divers couldn’t risk looking for the missing team.

One military diver tragically died searching for the bodies. Picture: Supplied

One of the only attempts on Saturday saw a member of the Maldivian military rescue diver Mohamed Mahudhee die from decompression illness.

He bravely went down to search for the victims but as he rose back to the surface he became gravely ill and later passed away.

The total death toll of the initial tragic dive and the subsequent recovery operation now stands at six.

All of the victims were highly experienced.

Ms Montefalcone husband and Ms Sommacal’s father, Carlo Sommacal hailed his wife as being “among the best divers on the face of the earth”.

He told Italian newspaper La Repubblica Ms Montefalcone “would never have put our daughter’s life at risk”.

He said: “If there really was a yellow alert, they would have dived first and something must have happened down there.

“Maybe one of them ran into trouble, maybe the gas tanks, I have no idea. But I’m ready to swear anything about Monica’s behaviour.”

Rome Prosecutor’s Office has launched a manslaughter probe into the divers’ deaths.

This article first appeared in The Sun and is republished here with permission.