Mystery behind fatal Maldives diving tragedy may have been solved by rescue team

The Finnish rescue team, who recovered the bodies of the five scuba divers that died whilst exploring a 16ft cave in the Maldives, think they know what happened.

In what's thought to be the country's deadliest single diving accident, the group from Italy were killed following an underwater cave expedition at popular diving spots near Vaavu Atoll last Thursday (14 May).

The victims have been identified as University of Genoa ecology professor Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, research fellow Muriel Oddenino, marine biology graduate Federico Gualtieri and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.

"The divers are believed to have died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50 metres (164ft)," the foreign ministry in Rome has said.

Rescue divers believe they may have solved mystery

Professor Monica Montefalcone died alongside her daughter, two researchers and a diving instructor (University of Genoa)

Earlier this week, the last two bodies were recovered by three Finnish divers supported by the Maldives coastguard and police.

“After that we will coordinate with the Italian government and start the procedure to repatriate the bodies,” presidential spokesperson, Mohameed Hussain Shareef, said

Diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti also died during the scuba trip (Albatros Top Boat)

He thanked the Finnish divers, praising them for their professionalism and leadership.

The expert divers, working for Dan Europe, now think they may have solved the mystery surrounding the deaths, Italy's La Repubblica reported.

They are exploring the possibility that the divers may have taken the wrong tunnel on their way out of the underwater cave, leading to them being trapped in a dead-end corridor.

Muriel Oddenino was also one of the victims (Facebook/Muriel Oddenino)

"There was no way out from there," Dan Europe's CEO, Laura Marroni, told the outlet.

At the end of the room is a corridor where there is little light, but 'visibility, using artificial lighting, was excellent', she said.

The corridor - about 30 metres long and three metres across - leads to a second chamber of the cave, which is a large, round space with no natural light.

"The divers' bodies were all found inside, as if they had mistaken it for the right one," the paper added.

The incident is still being investigated, with authorities examining the divers’ equipment and the possibility of a strong current pulling them into the cave.

Did the divers have a permit?

Shareef noted that the cave has been explored in the past by local experts and foreign divers.

And although the Italian divers had a permit, authorities did not know from their proposal the exact location of the cave they were exploring, and at least two of the dead were not on the list of researchers that had been submitted, 'so we didn’t know they were part of the expedition', he said, calling the conditions deep in the cave 'challenging' with difficult terrain, strong currents and poor visibility.