The divers involved in the recovery mission suggested that the group might have lost their way inside the cave due to a wall of sand, which led to panic, depletion of breathing gas, and ultimately death

On May 21, Laura Marroni, CEO of DAN Europe—the organization managing the recovery team for the five Italian tourists in the Maldives—announced new findings that could unlock the cause of the worst scuba diving accident in the history of this archipelago nation.

The diving tragedy occurred at a submerged cave system in Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, on May 14, claiming the lives of five Italian visitors. They were scientists and students from the University of Genoa (Italy). The group, led by 51-year-old Professor Monica Montefalcone, was conducting a dive to research an undocumented species of coral. Among the casualties was Giorgia Sommacal, 22, the daughter of Mrs. Montefalcone.

According to the rescue team, the cave where the incident took place is located at a depth of approximately 50 meters below the surface. The initial section consists of a large, very bright cavern dome with a sandy bottom. Pᴀssing through it, they found a corridor with very little light, but visibility was good when using specialized dive lights.

This corridor is nearly 30 meters long, 3 meters wide, and leads to a second cave. This area features a large, circular space completely devoid of natural light. Situated between this corridor and the second chamber is a submerged sandbank

Crossing the sandbank to enter the second chamber is very easy, but when departing, this sandbank looks like a wall that completely obscures the exit corridor.

To the left of the submerged sandbank lies another corridor several dozen meters long. The bodies of all victims were found inside this corridor, indicating that they may have mistaken it for the correct exit, according to Ms. Marroni. She noted that if the Italian group had mistakenly entered that corridor, turning back would have been very difficult, especially with a limited supply of reserve gas.

The group of five Italians used standard cylinders, meaning they had less than 10 minutes at that depth to explore the second cave chamber.

“Realizing that you have taken the wrong turn and have little air remaining, perhaps after swimming back and forth to find the way, is truly horrific. In that moment, you will breathe faster, and the air supply will drop,” she added.

Sami Paakkarinen, one of the three Finnish rescue divers who participated in recovering the bodies, dismissed the hypothesis that the group had been sucked into the cave, a prior speculation raised by Alfonso Bolognini, President of the Italian Society of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine.