MALDIVES – An international dive safety group sent experts to the Maldives on Sunday 17 May to join a multinational recovery effort after five Italians and a rescue diver from the Maldivian National Defence Force died in this Indian Ocean tourist destination’s deadliest diving disaster, an official said.

The five Italians drowned while in a deep underwater cave in remote seas on Thursday 14 May, and Maldivian authorities recovered one body later that day.

The Italians were identified as Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor at the University of Genoa in Ecology at the Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences (DISTAV); her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, a biomedical engineering student; Muriel Oddenino, a research assistant at DISTAV; and Federico Gualtieri, a recent master’s graduate from the same university in Biology and Marine Ecology.

A rescue diver, named Staff Sergeant Mohamed Mahudhy, from the Maldivian National Defence Force, died in hospital on Saturday 16 May, from decompression-related complications after surfacing during the search. The search was later suspended.

Italy, Britain and Australia have already assisted in the search for the remaining four Italians in difficult and dangerous conditions, chief government spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef told AFP.

“Three Finnish experts from DAN (Divers Alert Network), commissioned by the Italian government, arrived today and will join the search, most probably on Monday,” Shareef said.

He said the United States had also offered help, and foreign assistance in the recovery effort is being coordinated by DAN and the Maldivian Coast Guard, which has sent its largest vessel to the area.

The body of the Italian that was recovered on Thursday was found in a cave at a depth of about 60 metres (195 feet).

A funeral with full military honours was held for Mahudhy on Saturday night, Shareef said. “We are very sad about the tragic loss of the Italians. We are also very saddened by the loss of our own diver,” he said. “We are two nations united in grief.”

The University of Genoa confirmed the victims included a marine biology professor, her daughter, and two young researchers, and the five deaths were also confirmed by Italy’s Foreign Ministry.

The Maldives suspended the operating licence of the luxury vessel from which the Italians had been diving on Sunday (17 May).

According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), tourism is a key source of revenue for the low-lying Maldives, a nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands and atolls scattered some 800 kilometres (500 miles) across the equator in the Indian Ocean.

“Its pristine beaches, clear turquoise waters and exotic coral reefs attract divers and snorkellers from around the world who often stay at secluded resorts or on live-aboard dive boats. Several fatalities have been reported in recent years, but diving and water sports-related accidents are still relatively rare,” AFP reported.