Overview
- Five Italian divers went missing during a deep cave dive and were found dead after a high‑risk recovery operation that took place from May 18 to May 21.
- The mission was led by a three‑person Finnish technical cave‑diving team and followed an earlier suspension after a Maldivian military diver died while assisting recovery efforts.
- DAN Europe released inside photographs of the Dhevana Kandu system and a mission brief showing a lit entrance that gives way to a dark second chamber with a sand floor that can reduce visibility to near zero when disturbed.
- Rescuers said the victims were using recreational diving tanks rated to about 30 meters while they were located at roughly 60 meters, and the team reported no signs of specialized cave guiding lines on the site.
- The bodies were repatriated to Italy on May 23 and formal investigations and forensic autopsies in the Maldives and Italy will examine recovered GoPro footage, equipment and medical evidence to determine final causes and any accountability.