Divers in the Maldives have resumed their search for the bodies of four Italian scuba divers who drowned while exploring a deep underwater cave.<\/p>\n
A rescue diver involved in the search operation has reportedly died. According to the BBC, the diver was taken to hospital in critical condition and later died. <\/p>\n
Due to rough weather on Friday, Maldivian authorities had temporarily suspended the high-risk operation to recover the bodies of the divers.<\/p>\n
Five Italian divers died on Thursday in what authorities have called one of the worst diving incidents in the island nation\u2019s recent history.<\/p>\n
Italy\u2019s foreign ministry said the dive group had \u201capparently died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50m (164ft)\u201d in the Vaavu Atoll on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The victims were identified as Monica Montefalcone, an associate ecology professor at the University of Genoa; her daughter Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, according to the Maldivian government.<\/p>\n
Mr Benedetti\u2019s body was recovered on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Maldivian presidential spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef said eight divers took part in Friday\u2019s search and, working in pairs, explored the depths and drew up a map to continue the mission on Saturday.<\/p>\n
He said Benedetti\u2019s body was found near the mouth of the cave and authorities believed the remaining four had entered the cave.<\/p>\n
Two Italians \u2013 a deep-sea rescue expert and a cave-diving expert \u2013 are expected to join the recovery effort, Mr Shareef said.<\/p>\n
Italian officials said about 20 other Italians who were on the same expedition aboard a vessel named the Duke of York were safe. <\/p>\n
The vessel was searching for safe harbour amid poor weather, and was waiting for conditions to improve before returning to Mal\u00e9, the Italian ministry said.<\/p>\n
The Italian ministry said it was co-ordinating with the Divers Alert Network, a specialist diving organisation, to support recovery operations and the repatriation of the bodies.<\/p>\n
It said the cave entered by the five divers was divided into three large chambers connected by narrow passages. Recovery teams explored two of the three chambers, but the search was limited due to considerations over oxygen and decompression.<\/p>\n
They would explore the third chamber on Saturday, the ministry said.<\/p>\n
Montefalcone\u2019s husband, Carlo Sommacal, said he believed something unexpected must have occurred and ruled out recklessness on her part.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething must have happened,\u201d he told Italian TV channel Rete 4.<\/p>\n
He said his wife was a disciplined diver who carefully weighed risks before each descent. He recalled her telling him at times: \u201cThis one I can do, you can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sommacal said his wife survived the 2004 tsunami while diving off Kenya, resurfacing with other experienced divers despite the danger, and later returned to diving after a lengthy recovery from serious health complications.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe had two lives \u2013 one on land and one in her environment, the water,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Cave diving is a highly technical and dangerous activity that requires specialised training, equipment and strict safety protocols.<\/p>\n
Risks increase sharply in overhead environments and at depth, particularly when conditions deteriorate.<\/p>\n
Experts say it is easy to become disoriented or lost inside caves, particularly as sediment clouds can sharply reduce visibility.<\/p>\n
Diving at 50m also exceeds the maximum depth recommended for recreational divers by most major established scuba certifying agencies, with depths beyond 40m considered technical diving, which requires specialised training and equipment.<\/p>\n
The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30m. \u2013 AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Divers in the Maldives have resumed their search for the bodies of four Italian scuba divers who drowned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":451986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,102,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-451985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-italy","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=451985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/451986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=451985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=451985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=451985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}