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Salvage in the MaldivesCan elite divers save the bodies from the sharks?
Giorgia Sommacal (20) is one of the victims of the diving accident in the Maldives
Instagram/giorgia_sommacal
Fatal underwater adventure.
Rescue workers in the Maldives have been searching for four missing divers from Italy for days. Now specialists have discovered their bodies in an underwater cave. But the rescue remains extremely dangerous.
The bodies of the still missing Italian divers have been located
After the fatal diving accident in the Maldives, rescue divers found the bodies of the four missing Italians. According to dpa, this is confirmed by the Foreign Ministry in Rome. The body of the fifth Italian, diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, had already been recovered. According to the Daily Mail, he was found at the entrance to Shark Cave, while the four other divers were discovered further inside the cave system.
The search operation has been running for several days and had to be interrupted in the meantime. A Maldivian rescue diver died at the weekend. The total number of deaths is six.
After the diving accident in the Maldives, time is running out – because of sharks!
Finnish cave diving experts are now also involved in the highly dangerous rescue. According to the AP, the four bodies were discovered in the third and largest section of the cave system. The Finnish specialists work with the Maldivian police and military. More dives will follow in the coming days to bring the dead to the surface.
Time is apparently running out for a particularly cruel reason. The Sun quotes Laura Marroni, head of the European diving network DAN Europe. Accordingly, in warm waters one cannot rule out the possibility that predators such as sharks or environmental influences will harm the corpses. That's why every hour is important.
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Fatal diving accident in the Maldives: Did the Italians not have permission?
The group went diving in Vaavu Atoll last week and did not return. According to dpa, the Italians explored a cave with several chambers connected by narrow passages. The depth is said to have been around 50 meters.
The victims are marine biologist Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacalresearchers Muriel Oddenino and Federico Gualtieri and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.
According to media reports, the permitted limit for normal diving in the Maldives is around 30 meters. A special permit is required for deeper dives. The authorities are checking whether such a permit was available for this particular dive. According to Italian media, the tour operator denies having approved the deep cave dive or even knowing about it.
The exact cause of the accident remains unclear. Experts consider three scenarios to be realistic in the catastrophic diving accident in the Maldives.
Sources used: AP, dpa, Daily Mail, Sun
