Two of the four bodies of the Italian divers who died in the Maldives during a dive were recovered today, May 19th. In the past few hours the bodies had been identified by the team of Finnish super experts. The bodies of Federico Gualtieri and Professor Montefalcone were brought to the surface. The difficulty is very high and the entire procedure will be completed on Wednesday 20 May. Speleo divers use advanced technical systems, including powerful underwater scooters and “rebreathers”, a sophisticated “self-contained breathing apparatus”.
It has been learned that the Rome Prosecutor’s Office is prosecuting for manslaughter. The prosecutors of the capital, once the bodies have been recovered and brought back to Italy, will assign the tasks for the autopsies and will entrust an investigation delegation to carry out all the investigations necessary to establish the causes of the deaths.
The bodies of Gualtieri and Montefalcone recovered
The bodies of professor Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, the new graduate Federico Gualtieri and the researcher Muriel Oddenino were identified in the deepest part of the cave into which they immersed themselves on Thursday without returning to the surface. All close together, at a depth of over sixty meters.
Two, as mentioned, were recovered today. These are Federico Gualtieri and Professor Montefalcone. However, there must be official identification. The body of the fifth victim, Gianluca Benedetti, boat master and diving instructor, is expected to return to Italy in the next few hours.
“I want to remember them smiling”
“I want to remember them smiling”, the words of Carlo Sommacal, husband of Monica Montefalcone and father of Giorgia. “I am devastated – he added -. I have now learned from TV that they have found Monica and Chicco (Federico Gualtieri, ed). I don’t have the strength to say anything now, I haven’t slept for days, I’ve had nightmares. I just have to try to resist, because there is my son Matteo who is twenty years old. What would happen?”. Sommacal will not go to Malé where, presumably, they will take the bodies. “I will wait for them here.”
The investigations
In the meantime, investigations continue to ascertain the causes of the tragedy and establish responsibilities. In addition to the equipment, the authorizations come under the microscope.
Mohamed Hussain Shareef, spokesperson for the President of the Maldives Mohamed Muizzu, claims that the names of the boat captain Gianluca Benedetti and Giorgia Sommacal, daughter of Professor Montefalcone, do not appear in the search team’s list. A circumstance on which the Verbanese tour operator Albatros Top Boat underlines – through its lawyer Orietta Stella – that “the permit we are talking about is not for diving, but for scientific activity”. “It goes without saying – claims the lawyer – that it should be the researchers and not the guides who had it. Just as it is obvious that the researchers would not dive without guides”. The University of Genoa also intervened: “The scuba diving activity, during which the accident occurred, was not part of the activities foreseen by the scientific mission, but was carried out in a personal capacity”.
Underwater scooters for research
The three Finnish cave divers from Dan Europe who have the task of recovering the bodies of the Italians have the latest generation equipment at their disposal for their undertaking. Sami Paakkarinen, Jenni Westerlund and Patrik Grönqvist have the “rebreather” first and foremost. These are not simple cylinders, but a closed-circuit diving system that recycles the gas exhaled by the diver, removes carbon dioxide via an absorbent filter and automatically replenishes the metabolized oxygen. This allows for significantly longer dives, minimal bubble production, reduced gas consumption and extremely precise control of the breathing mixture; all essential skills in complex cave recovery operations.
They then have DPVs (Diver Propulsion Vehicles), underwater scooters that allow divers to safely carry out prolonged penetration into deep caves, maintaining extremely high operating safety margins. They have a battery-powered electric motor that drives a propeller, designed and protected so as not to be dangerous for the diver or the environment. They help carry heavy equipment and reduce the time needed to travel, thus shortening already long decompression times.
An ambulance boat was also activated on the surface with the presence of a hyperbaric doctor. The team is supported by Maldivian divers, who know the local context and support the recovery device. The mission is described as “technically demanding, emotionally intense and operationally complex”.