{"id":338994,"date":"2026-05-22T17:43:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T12:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=338994"},"modified":"2026-05-22T17:43:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T12:13:13","slug":"contained-in-the-maldives-shark-cave-where-6-people-lost-their-lives-news-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/contained-in-the-maldives-shark-cave-where-6-people-lost-their-lives-news-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Contained in the Maldives &#8216;shark cave&#8217; where 6 people lost their lives | News World"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><figcaption>The Maldives cave claimed six lives (Picture: via REUTERS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Five Italian divers died on a research trip within the Maldives last week, after they entered a 160 ft deep \u2018shark\u00a0cave\u2019 in\u00a0a submerged cave system within the Vaavu Atoll.<\/p>\n<p>The bodies of ecology professor Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, researcher Muriel Oddenino, and marine biologist Federico Gualtieri have all been retrieved after extensive search efforts.<\/p>\n<p>Their diving instructor, Gianluca Benedetti\u2019s body was found last week.<\/p>\n<p>Maldivian military rescue diver Mohamed Mahudhee also sadly died on Saturday from decompression illness during a recovery mission.<\/p>\n<p>Local authorities are calling it the most important diving accident within the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p>Now, a video from contained in the same cave has been shared by Vladimir Tochilov, a technical cave instructor.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\" data-ico=\"factbox_article\" data-track-module=\"factbox_article\">\n<h2 class=\"factbox-title\">\n\t\t\t\tEnroll for all of the most recent stories\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<div class=\"factbox-content\">\n<p>Start your day informed with Metro&#8217;s <strong>News Updates<\/strong> newsletter or get <strong>Breaking News <\/strong>alerts the moment it happens. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The footage, which dates back to 2014, shows the fact of the depths. It includes the cave being entirely pitch black and requiring the usage of torches, and the small crevices that the divers needed to navigate through.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2026\/05\/19\/world\/video\/maldives-cave-divers-vrtc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CNN shared the video<\/a>, together with a clip of Vladimir explaining the hazards of the cave.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"442\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_298262327-5d25.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-28462329\" alt=\"A diver from Finland takes part in a recovery operation for the last two bodies of Italian scuba divers who died in an accident in underwater caves near Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, in this handout photo released on May 20, 2026. DAN Europe\/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO ARCHIVES. NO RESALES. MANDATORY CREDIT.\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\">\t<\/div><figcaption>The divers were rescued by a specialist team from Finland (Picture: REUTERS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u2018It&#8217;s difficult since it is positioned deep,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018And this cave is accessible just for technical cave divers who&#8217;ve the suitable preparation, the suitable experience and who&#8217;re planning appropriately to dive this cave.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Apparently, the name of the cave is \u2018Dhevana Kandu.\u2019 Though not officially, its name was deliberately modified by those specialist divers to forestall untrained or recreational divers from attempting to enter the hazardous cavern.<\/p>\n<p>Vladimir continued: \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/QueenmaryMV\/status\/2055989332662538324\"><\/a>There shouldn\u2019t be any unprepared divers, and we even modified the name to be able to save the inexperienced divers from the temptation to are available in and have a look.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Local authorities say the dive appears to have exceeded the legal depth limit for business and recreational diving.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for the Italian tour operator said the divers\u2019 equipment gave the impression to be standard recreational gear, and never appropriate for deep dives.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"384\" src=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SEI_297971960-6be5-e1779264225672.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;w=646\" class=\"article-image wp-image-28430040\" alt=\"epa12972834 A handout photo made available by the Maldives President's Media Division shows Finnish diver Patrik Gronqvist preparing to conduct search and recovery operations for the bodies of four Italian divers in the waters of Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, 19 May 2026. The operation follows a tragic diving accident on 14 May, which claimed the lives of five Italian nationals. The government confirmed that the bodies were located in the innermost part of an underwater cave by three Finnish diving experts, who are supported by the Maldives police and military. The recovery team plans to extract two of the bodies today. EPA\/Maldives President's Media Division Handout HANDOUT HANDOU, EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALESHANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY\/NO SALES\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Local authorities are calling it the most important diving accident within the country\u2019s history (Picture: EPA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Italian tour operator that managed the diving trip has denied authorising or knowing in regards to the group\u2019s deep dive, which exceeded local limits, its lawyer told Italian local publication Corriere della Sera.<\/p>\n<p>On May 17 \u2014 three days after the tragic accident \u2014 three Finnish specialist\u00a0divers arrived on the scene. They managed to locate the bodies of the remaining 4 Italians\u00a0on May 18 within the deepest section of the caves.<\/p>\n<p>Following the rescue, three expert divers who recovered the bodies handed over GoPro cameras which were found with the group.<\/p>\n<p>While the footage has not yet been made public, it&#8217;s hoped they might piece together the group\u2019s final moments as investigators scramble to determine what happened to the group after they dived deep below the advisable depth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"><\/use><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Mother of three women who died off Brighton beach also drowned, family reveals<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"><\/use><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Tributes to bus driver killed in confrontation on Battersea Bridge<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><svg><title>Arrow<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#common-right-arrow\" href=\"#common-right-arrow\"><\/use><\/svg><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: Mosque shooters who killed three \u2018livestreamed their attack\u2019 after stealing guns<\/span><\/p>\n<section id=\"share-buttons-bottom\" class=\"share-buttons share-buttons-bottom\"><a class=\"metro-button share-bar-comments\" data-vars-position=\"bottom\" href=\"#metro-comments-container\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Comment now<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-comment\" href=\"#social-comment\"><\/use><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-comments__label\">Comments<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span><svg><title>Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title>\n<use xlink:href=\"#social-preferred-source\" href=\"#social-preferred-source\"><\/use><\/svg><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-preferred-source__label\">Add as preferred source<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n<div class=\"newsletter-end-card accent--news\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-end-card__inner\">\n<h4>News Updates<\/h4>\n<p>Stay on top of the headlines with day by day email updates.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Maldives cave claimed six lives (Picture: via REUTERS) Five Italian divers died on a research trip within the Maldives last week, after they entered a 160 ft deep \u2018shark\u00a0cave\u2019 in\u00a0a submerged cave system within the Vaavu Atoll. The bodies of ecology professor Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, researcher Muriel Oddenino, and marine biologist [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":338995,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20691],"tags":[7947,4511,3516,28897,395,2038,5304,813],"class_list":["post-338994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-cave","tag-lives","tag-lost","tag-maldives","tag-news","tag-people","tag-shark","tag-world"],"aioseo_notices":[{"message":"The permalink for this post just changed! This could result in 404 errors for your site visitors.","status":"warning","options":{"id":"0a2ae5f84bc2c0423042ed7ec22d2e40","isDismissible":true,"actions":[{"url":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/wp-admin\/admin.php?page=aioseo-redirects","label":"Add Redirect to improve SEO","class":"aioseo-redirects-slug-changed"}]},"allowedContexts":["posts"]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338994"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":338997,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338994\/revisions\/338997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}