Overview
- Five Italian divers died inside a submerged cave at Dhekunu Kandu on May 14; their bodies were recovered by a Finnish specialist team and returned to Italy for study.
- Italian prosecutors have commissioned autopsies and a forensic panel, and the first two autopsies have been completed with toxicology and histology tests pending and a final report expected in about 90 days.
- Maldivian authorities seized GoPro cameras, dive computers, torches and cylinders and investigators will analyse those devices to reconstruct depth, timings and air use, with some evidence subject to mutual‑legal‑assistance requests.
- Experts and recovery divers say procedures and equipment appear to have been inadequate for deep cave penetration — reports cite single recreational tanks, oxygen/nitrogen fills without helium, possible lack of a guideline and visibility loss from silt.
- The case has prompted the Maldives to propose a 'Tech‑Wreck' law to tightly regulate technical and cave dives and has raised questions about the University of Genoa’s role after it removed two victims’ profiles, a move disputed by families and lawyers.