Five Italians die in scuba diving incident in the Maldives

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The incident occurred in the Vaavu Atoll, where the group had been attempting to explore a series of underwater caves at a depth of around 50 metres (165 ft), the Italian foreign ministry statement said.

The ministry did not give any details about the exact cause of the accident.

The victims were part of a University of Genoa team and included:

• Monica Montefalcone, associate professor of Ecology at the Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences (DISTAV),
• Her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, a UniGe student in Biomedical Engineering,
• Muriel Oddenino, a research fellow at DISTAV
• Federico Gualtieri, a recent UniGe graduate in Marine Biology and Ecology.

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The university said in a statement: "The sympathy of the entire university community goes out to the families, colleagues and students who shared their human and professional journey."

Italian media reported that the divers were reported missing at around 1.45pm by the crew of the vessel they were travelling on.

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) was involved in searching for the missing divers.

The body of one of the divers was found in a cave about 60 metres deep, the other tourists were also believed to have been in the cave which is about 200 feet long.

Further assistance was sent to try and support the rescue in what the MNDF described as a "very high risk dangerous operation".

The foreign ministry said an investigation was underway, adding that the Italian Embassy in Sri Lanka was working to contact the victims' families and provide consular assistance.