One cave diver’s body has been recovered from a tragic incident off the Maldives, while the remains of four others have not yet been brought up.
According to news reports, the Italian divers were exploring a cave system at a depth of 65m/213ft.
The victims were identified as Monica Montefalcone, Giorgia Sommacal, Muriel Oddenino, Gianluca Benedetti and Federico Gualtieri. They had boarded the liveaboard vessel Duke of York to explore the waters of Vaavu Atoll.
The incident ranks among the deadliest diving accidents in Maldives history, according to local officials.
Weather conditions were not very good, with winds gusting to 30mph/42kph.
An investigation has been launched but officials have not yet released the cause of death for the divers.
Some experts are speculating that oxygen toxicity and fear could have been the causes of the incident.
Claudio Micheletto, a pulmonologist at the University Hospital of Verona, speculated:
“It’s likely that something went wrong with the tanks … Death from oxygen toxicity, or hyperoxia, is one of the most dramatic deaths that can occur during a dive – a horrible end.”
Italian Society of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine President Alfonso Bolognini said fear could have played a role in the divers’ deaths:
“Inside a cave at a depth of 50 meters, all it takes is a problem for a diver or a panic attack for a diver. The agitation will cause the water to become cloudy and can impair visibility … It’s not easy to say now what exactly may have happened at the bottom of the sea.”
