Maldives launches culpable homicide probe into fatal cave dive

Two investigations, including a culpable homicide inquiry, have been opened into the Maldives deep-water cave expedition that resulted in the deaths of five Italian scuba divers, officials in the Maldives and Rome say.

Both the Maldives government and prosecutors in Rome announced the investigations as the remains of two more divers were recovered from an underwater cave in the Indian Ocean, News.Az reports, citing ABC news.

In addition to the probe by the Maldives government, prosecutors in Rome have opened a culpable homicide investigation into the tragedy, sources told the Italian news agency ANSA.

Mohamed Hussain Shareef, a spokesperson for the Maldives president's office, said the investigation by the Maldives government will focus on whether those in charge of the fatal expedition "took the correct precautions" and underwent the necessary planning.

"We believe that the retrieval of the bodies will itself reveal a lot, as far as that part of the investigation is concerned," said Shareef, according to The Associated Press. "But that doesn’t take from the fact that cave diving in itself is very, very dangerous.”

Shareef said the scuba-diving group -- which was led by Monica Montefalcone, a marine researcher and an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa -- had been issued a permit for the diving expedition.

"While they had a permit, there are certain gaps in the research proposal," Shareef said.

He said the Maldives government was not informed that the group would be exploring an underwater cave.

"We didn't know the exact location they were diving," Shareef said.

He said two of the divers who died were not on the list of researchers that organizers had submitted.

"So we didn't know they were part of the expedition as well. So, all these factors are being reviewed," Shareef said.

Shareef said the scuba diving group was on an excursion he described as "very, very challenging" due to the depth, terrain, powerful current and strong draft in the area of the dive.

"The visibility, for example, once you enter the cave, would be almost zero; that’s what we are being told," Shareef said.

The divers went missing on Thursday while exploring a cave in Vaavu Atoll, according to the Maldives National Defense Force.

A Maldives military diver died on Saturday while working to recover the bodies of victims, according to the Maldives National Defense Force.

Officials called the recovery effort a "very dangerous, high-risk operation." The search was suspended at one point on Friday due to bad weather, the AP reported.

The Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology and the University of Genoa identified the deceased divers as Montefalcone; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, a University of Genoa biomedical engineering student; Muriel Oddenino, a University of Genoa research fellow; and marine biologist Federico Gualtieri, a recent University of Genoa graduate in marine biology and ecology.

The institute also identified one of the victims as diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.

The Maldives government said three of the bodies have been recovered. On Tuesday, a Finnish diving team retrieved two bodies from the third chamber of a deep-water cave, Shareef said.

News.Az 

By Ulviyya Salmanli