5 Italian tourists die in Maldives cave drowning as authorities search waters for bodies

Five Italians died in a diving accident in the Maldives, the Italian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, while security forces on the Indian Ocean islands recovered one body.

The chain of coral islands is a popular luxury holiday destination for divers, who often stay in remote resorts or on yachts.

“Following an accident that occurred during a scuba diving trip, five Italians died in Vaavu Atoll, Maldives,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome in a statement.

“The divers are believed to have died while trying to explore the caves at a depth of 50 meters.”

The University of Genoa said the victims included a marine science professor, his daughter and two young researchers. The school identified them as Monica Montefalcone, Giorgia Sommacal, Muriel Oddenino and Federico Gualtieri.

They failed to return from a deep cave diving trip in Vaavu Atoll, south of the capital, Male.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday that 20 other Italians aboard the ship “Duke of York” who took part in the diving trip are safe.

Local officials said it was the worst single diving accident in the nation of 1,192 small coral islands spread over 500 kilometers of the equator in the Indian Ocean.

Aircraft and speedboats have been deployed to search for a group of five reported missing on Thursday afternoon, the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) said in a statement. “One body was found out of five divers who were diving in Vaavu Atoll,” said the statement.

The force also released a map of the search area.

“The body was found in the cave. It is believed that the remaining four divers are also inside the cave, which is about 200 meters deep.”

Police said the weather was bad in Vaavu Atoll on Thursday and there was a yellow warning for boats carrying people and fishermen.

The MNDF said a coast guard vessel was in the area coordinating the search operation throughout the night. More shore divers were being sent to assist in the search.

Italy's Foreign Ministry said an Italian specialist was assisting the coast guard and Maldivian vessels in the search operation on Friday. It says officials have planned to dive to check for access to an underwater cave in Vaavu Atoll, but bad weather could delay recovery.

The ministry added that the Italian ambassador in Colombo, who is in charge of relations with the Maldives, went to the capital Malé to meet with coast guard officials. The Italian embassy has also been in contact with the families of the victims and is offering assistance.

Accidents related to diving and sports appear to be rare in the South Asian nation, although several fatal incidents have been reported in recent years.

A British woman tourist died while diving in December, and her distraught 71-year-old husband died a few days later after falling ill.

A 26-year-old Japanese tourist went missing after a diving trip near the capital in June.

Local media reports say that at least 112 tourists have died in sea-related incidents in the past six years, and 42 of them were victims of diving or water skiing accidents.