Tragedy as rescue diver dies while searching for bodies of Maldives scuba diving victims | World | News
A rescue diver has died as he was searching for the bodies of four Italians who lost their lives in a scuba diving incident in the Maldives. The local government confirmed on Saturday that Staff Sgt Mohamed Mahdhee died after being taken to hospital in critical condition.
The rescue diver was looking for the bodies of four Italians who died on Thursday while trying to explore caves at a depth of around 164ft. Five people died in total, with just one body having been recovered so far. One body is believed to have been recovered, in a cave at a depth of around 60m (197ft). The incident is thought to be the deadliest single diving accident in the small Indian Ocean nation, which is a well-known tourist destination famous for its chain of coral islands.
Maldives Presidential Spokesman Mohammed Hussain Shareef said Mahudhee, a member of the Maldivian National Defense Force, died of underwater decompression sickness after being transferred to a hospital in the capital.
Shareef told the BBC: “Eight rescue divers went into the water today. When they surfaced, they realised Mr Mahdhee didn’t come up”.
The group of divers immediately went into the water again only to discover that Mahdhee had blacked out.
In a statement Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said: “The death of a diver of the Maldives National Defence Force while diving in search of missing tourists is a matter of deep sorrow for me and for every Maldivian citizen. This is heartbreaking news.”
The University of Genoa named four of the victims as professor of ecology Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, who was a student, research fellow Muriel Oddenino, and marine biology graduate Federico Gualtieri.
The fifth victim was confirmed by the Maldivian government as being diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, whose body has been recovered.
Rough weather has repeatedly hampered rescue efforts and Maldivian authorities were forced to suspend the high-risk operation on Friday.
The search for the bodies has now resumed. Italian officials are coordinating with Divers Alert Network, a specialist diving organization, to support recovery operations and the repatriation of the bodies.
