World3 min(s) read
Published 13:19 16 May 2026 GMT
A man who tragically lost both his wife and daughter in a scuba diving incident in the Maldives has broken his silence.
Five Italian divers died 160 feet underwater while scuba diving in the Maldives, as they explored caves around Vaavu Atoll on Thursday morning.
Authorities were alerted to the group's disappearance at around 1.45PM local time, and an urgent search operation was immediately launched.
Tragically, the five people - identified by Italian media as four divers part of a University of Genoa research team and another tourist - all lost their lives, as well as rescue diver Sergeant Major Mohamed Mahudhee, who passed away while helping with recovery operations.
Among the victims were University of Genoa ecology professor Monica Montefalcone and her 20-year-old daughter, Giorgia Sommacal.
Muriel Oddenino, Gianluca Benedetti, and Federico Gualtieri also died after failing to resurface from the dive.
Italy's foreign ministry said in a statement: "The divers are reported to have died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50 metres [164 feet]."
Montefalcone's husband has now spoken out following the tragic death of his wife and daughter, revealing that he has questions about why all five of the divers died on the trip.
He told local newspaper La Repubblica that his wife "would never have put the life of our daughter or other kids at risk.”
He added, according to the Times: "My only certainty is that my wife is one of the best scuba divers on the face of the earth."
The widower added in a separate interview on Italian television, per AP: "Something must have happened."
According to the BBC, so far just one of the bodies is believed to have been recovered, but authorities believe the others to be nearby.
Tragically, a sixth casualty was reported as a rescue diver, Staff Sergeant Mohamed Mahdhee, who was part of the search and rescue operation, had to be taken to hospital in critical condition and later succumbed to his injuries.
Officials have said that the area where the tourists were diving, around 60 miles south of Malé, the capital of the Maldives, had been experiencing volatile weather, with strong winds of up to 30MPH reported at the time.
These difficult weather conditions also meant that recovery efforts were temporarily halted on Friday due to the turbulent seas, but were expected to continue on Saturday when conditions were set to improve.
According to reports, a further 20 passengers had set out to sea along with the five fatalities, but the others chose not to dive - a decision which likely saved their lives.
Officials from Italy’s foreign ministry said in a statement: "Due to adverse weather conditions, it is not yet clear whether they will be able to reach the vessel in distress, which has in the meantime moved in search of a safe harbor.
"The vessel is awaiting an improvement in weather conditions in order to return to Malé.”
An investigation has been launched into the circumstances of this tragedy, which is ongoing.
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