The first autopsy of one of the tragic Maldives divers has begun – with a theory emerging that wetsuits were behind the mysterious disaster.
Five Italian tourists died while exploring a shark-infested cave before specialist teams were brought in to recover their remains and underwater gear.
One body was found at the time of the disaster on Thursday, while the other four were discovered and brought to the surface earlier this week.
Local authorities found the divers’ GoPro cameras – which will help them piece together their final moments.
According to Italian outlet Corriere, Professor Monica Montefalcon, who died in the tragedy along with her 22-year-old daughter Giorgia Somacal, was wearing a wetsuit at the time of the fatal dive.
A source told the newspaper it was not the appropriate type of suit to be used for deep sea diving.
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The five holidaymakers, Montefalcon, Somacal, Gianluca Benedetti, Federico Gualtieri and Muriel Odenino, were diving to about 60 meters below the surface when they died, a depth much greater than local regulation.
Benedetti’s autopsy has now begun after he was flown back to Italy, according to authorities.
Somakal and Odenino were recovered from inside the “shark cave” on Wednesday by three expert Finnish divers.
The bodies of both divers were lifted one by one onto a support boat after they were taken to the surface by recovery teams.
Another new theory suggests that the expedition team may have been trapped in a complex cave where they ran out of breathing gas while trying to escape.
The very strong current caused by the cave’s narrow passages may have created a “Venturi effect”, where water accelerates to maintain a constant flow, reducing pressure and creating a vacuum.
Alfonso Bolognini, president of the Italian Society of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine, told Italian outlet Adchronos: “Two things could have happened after the suction.
“Either everyone was pulled in, or one was pulled in and the others attempted a rescue.”
The bodies of Montefalcon and university researcher Gualtieri were recovered on Tuesday.
The first body of Benedetti, a boat captain and experienced diving instructor, was found by rescue teams last week.
Each attempt to dive and retrieve the bodies lasted about three hours.
Sami Pakkarinen, Jenny Westerlund and Patrik Gronqvist worked on some of the world’s most difficult underwater recovery missions.
Search efforts were hampered by bad weather over the weekend, meaning divers could not afford to search for the missing team.
Diver Mohammed Mahudhi, a member of the Maldives’ military rescue team, died of decompression sickness in one of the only attempts on Saturday.
He bravely went down to search for victims but as soon as he returned to the surface he became seriously ill and later died.
The total number of deaths from the initial tragic dive and subsequent recovery operation now stands at six.
All the victims were highly experienced and officials were still trying to trace their fatal dive.
Monica’s husband and Giorgia’s father, Carlo Somacal, praised his wife as “one of the best divers on Earth”.
he told Republica Monica “would never have risked our daughter’s life”.
He said: “If there really was a yellow alert, they would have dived earlier and something would have happened down there.
“Maybe one of them got into trouble, maybe in the gas tank, I have no idea. But I’m willing to swear anything about Monica’s behavior.”
The Rome prosecutor’s office has opened a murder investigation into the divers’ deaths.
