Overview
- Rescuers, who resumed the search Monday, located the four in the cave’s innermost third chamber in Vaavu Atoll, with the bodies found close together.
- The operation moved to a phased recovery plan after MNDF Sergeant Major Mohamed Mahudhee died Saturday from decompression sickness during the mission.
- Investigators suspended the vessel’s operating license and opened a probe because the group descended to about 50–60 meters, beyond the Maldives’ 30‑meter recreational limit.
- The victims were University of Genoa affiliates Monica Montefalcone and her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, researchers Muriel Oddenino and Federico Gualtieri, and instructor Gianluca Benedetti, whose body was recovered earlier near the cave entrance.
- Three Finnish cave specialists from DAN Europe arrived Sunday to design a safe approach for a maze-like system with tight passages, strong currents, silted visibility and strict decompression needs, while Italy coordinates repatriation.