Team of expert Finnish divers spent three hours navigating a deep underwater cave to recover bodies of Italian divers

A team of expert Finnish divers has recovered the bodies of four Italian nationals from deep within the cave near Alimatha in Vaavu Atoll, following a four-day search operation.

A team of Finnish rebreather divers launched a high-risk operation at approximately 8:30 a.m. on Monday, spending nearly three hours navigating the deepest sections of the cave. The three Finnish divers arrived in Vaavu Atoll on Sunday, May 17. They completed all necessary preparations for the dive throughout Sunday before commencing the operation the following morning.

DAN Europe, the organization that dispatched the Finnish dive team to the Maldives, stated that the initial operation conducted on Monday involved a comprehensive survey of the underwater cave system to assess environmental conditions and operational feasibility. The team successfully located the remains of the four missing individuals and gathered critical data required to plan the subsequent phases of the recovery mission.

The search operation has resumed after being suspended following the death of MNDF diver Sergeant Major Mohamed Mahdi, who passed away on May 15 due to decompression sickness.

Finnish divers Sami Paakkarinen, Jenni Westerlund, and Patrik Grönqvist developed the dive plan in collaboration with the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and relevant Italian authorities stationed in Malé. The team utilized closed-circuit rebreathers, high-powered Diver Propulsion Vehicles (DPVs), and state-of-the-art safety equipment to mitigate life-threatening risks. DAN Europe described the operation as having been conducted while maintaining the highest possible standards of operational safety.

"The delicate phase of recovering the bodies will take place over the coming days," DPA reported.

The four individuals whose bodies were recovered on Monday have been identified as Professor Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Somacal, research assistant Muriel Odenino, and graduate student Federico Gualtieri. On the day the group went missing, the body of Gianluca Benedetti, the safari's operations manager and diving instructor, was discovered at the entrance of the cave.

Authorities have yet to disclose the exact location within the cave where the four bodies were discovered, the depth at which they were found, their positioning, or whether any equipment such as cameras or dive computers were recovered. Montefalcone’s husband noted that his late wife always carried a GoPro camera during her dives. Previous recovery efforts by MNDF divers only reached the second section of the cave, which spans depths of 55 to 65 meters. Consequently, it is believed that the Finnish team located the bodies in the innermost third section of the cave. DAN Europe stated that they had secured experts experienced in search and rescue and body recovery for such hazardous conditions. This specialized team arrived in the Maldives on very short notice to participate in the high-risk operation.

Paakkarinen and Westerlund were key participants in the renowned mission featured in the documentary "Diving into the Unknown," which chronicled the 2014 recovery operation in Norway's Plura cave system. Additionally, the pair took part in a significant recovery mission in a Mexican cave that same year. Gronqvist was also a member of the team involved in the Plura cave mission in Norway.

"Today's achievement is the result of extraordinary preparation, technical excellence, and exemplary teamwork," said Laura Marroni, CEO of DAN Europe.