Mystery of five Italian divers who vanished in Maldives may have been caused by a deadly cave current

Five Italian divers who drowned in a tragic Maldives expedition may have been drawn into a cave and ran out of oxygen while trying to escape, a new theory suggests.

An elite team of divers has now recovered all five bodies trapped deep inside Thinwana Kandu cave, also known as "shark cave".

Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, Muriel Oddenino, and Federico Gualtieri were found by the elite unit after disappearing on Thursday morning.

The university research group was accompanied by boat captain and experienced diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, who was found last week.

The divers were highly experienced, and their disappearance has left investigators puzzled.

Several theories have emerged as to how they met such a tragic fate, but perhaps the most alarming is a recent suggestion that the group was pulled into the cave.

The three Finnish divers who recovered the bodies also handed local authorities GoPro cameras that belonged to the ill-fated tourists on Wednesday – key pieces of evidence that will help investigators piece together their last moments.

Alfonso Bolognini, president of the Italian Society of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine, told the Italian outlet Adnkronos that they might have been caught off guard while checking out the cave for future dives.

He suggested that they may have been swept into it by a very strong current caused by the site’s unique entrance.

The cave’s narrow pathway may have created a "Venturi effect" where fluid must speed up to maintain a constant flow, causing a pressure drop and creating a vacuum.

Bolognini said that he came to the hypothesis after hearing about the underwater conditions from expert DAN Europe divers.

He stated: “They first sent a ROV (remotely operated vehicle) to the cave entrance. They couldn’t get it in due to the very strong currents, so they had to go there themselves.”

Based on a cave diagram sent to him by the divers, Bolognini believes that a "formidable" Venturi effect could have been created.

“Two things could have happened after the suction,” Bolognini explains.

“Either everyone was pulled in, or one was sucked in and the others attempted a rescue.”

The theory provides an explanation for why such a qualified group of divers went missing.

Monica had over 5,000 dives under her belt, and her husband has dismissed any suggestion that she would knowingly put her daughter in harm’s way.

Her husband and Giorgia’s father, Carlo Sommacal, said: “The only certainty I have is that my wife is among the best divers on the face of the earth.” 

In an interview with Repubblica, a grieving Carlo said his wife “would never have put our daughter’s life at risk.”

Bolognini has suggested that the group was exploring a reef and decided to visit the cave at the end of the trip.

“They decided to make this dive a little deeper to view the entrance; they were pulled into a possibly dark environment, with zero visibility even for swimming, in a state of great disorientation, probably due to panic,” Bolognini claimed.

“In their desperate search for a way out, they probably also ran out of air.”

“But that’s it, in my opinion, a fairly reliable reconstruction of what happened.”

The Rome Prosecutor’s Office has launched a manslaughter investigation into the divers’ deaths.

Perilous local search efforts were hampered by bad weather over the weekend.

A Maldivian military rescue diver Mohamed Mahudhee died from decompression illness on Saturday, highlighting the mission’s extreme danger and bringing the total death toll to six.