Five Italian divers died in the Maldives after getting trapped in an underwater cave system, and recovery and investigation revealed questions about depth limits, equipment and navigation that could reshape safety scrutiny in the region.

The incident has been described as the worst diving disaster in Maldives history, with five Italian divers drowning while exploring a submerged cave complex. Authorities and experts have pointed to oxygen toxicity and panic as major contributors to what unfolded underwater. A Maldivian military diver also lost his life during the search for the victims, deepening the tragedy for everyone involved.

Recovering the bodies took several days, and the final two were retrieved on Wednesday, after teams worked through difficult conditions to reach the site. Early reports suggest the group may have taken a wrong corridor inside the cave system, which left them without the extra air needed to correct a navigation error. Local and international investigators are now focused on how the dive was planned and why the team descended so far below safe tourist depths.

Finnish divers working for DAN Europe found the Italians in a corridor with a dead end inside the cave complex, which sits about 165 feet underwater, Italy’s la Repubblica daily reported.

“There was no way out from there,” the company’s CEO Laura Marroni was quoted by la Repubblica as saying.

The Italian divers were identified as Monica Montefalcone, an associate ecology professor at the University of Genoa; her daughter Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti.

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Montefalcone and Oddenino were in the Maldives on an official scientific mission to monitor marine environments and study the effects of climate change on tropical biodiversity, the University of Genoa said in a statement Friday.

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“The divers’ bodies were all found inside, as if they had mistaken it for the right one,” the paper said.

If they had taken that corridor by mistake, “then it would have been very difficult to return, especially with the limited air supply,” Marroni said.

The divers were using standard tanks, meaning they had very little time at that depth to visit the second cave, she said.

“We’re talking about 10 minutes, maybe even less,” Marroni said.

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Authorities in the Maldives are investigating how the Italians were allowed to descend to a depth of 60 meters when the Indian Ocean country permits a maximum depth of 30 meters for tourists.

Investigators are looking at permits, dive plans and local regulations to understand how a scientific team ended up so deep, since Maldives rules typically cap tourist dives at 30 meters. That discrepancy has raised immediate questions about oversight and whether the expedition followed the procedures required for technical or cave diving. Officials will likely review whether proper specialist training, redundant gas supplies or a guide familiar with that cave network were in place before the dive.

The victims included researchers and an instructor, and authorities confirmed that two of them were on an official mission to monitor reefs and biodiversity, which adds a grim note about the risks scientists sometimes take in the field. Families and colleagues are grieving while agencies parse every step of the trip to extract lessons that could prevent future losses. The tragedy has also prompted renewed attention to how diving operations are authorized in popular tourist waters that host both recreational and professional divers.

Experts point out that cave diving is categorically different from open-water recreational diving and demands specialized training, team redundancy and longer-range breathing systems to survive navigation errors. Standard single-tank setups can be sufficient for straightforward, shallow dives but become dangerously tight on time and options once divers go beyond recommended depths. At roughly 165 feet, margins shrink drastically and any deviation from the planned route can be fatal unless contingency gas and exit strategies are in place.

The presence of a dead-end corridor inside the complex, combined with limited air and the stress of being so deep, helps explain how panic and oxygen issues can cascade into tragedy. Rescue teams had to contend with complex passages and depth-related limitations as they searched for victims, which extended the recovery time. The loss of a Maldivian military diver during those efforts underscores how even trained search teams face extreme hazards in confined underwater environments.

As inquiries continue, the focus will likely split three ways: the specific dive choices made that day, the authorization and regulatory framework that allowed a deep descent, and the broader need to clarify rules around scientific versus tourist dives. Communities of divers, researchers and local authorities will be watching for any recommendations or changes that emerge from the investigation. Just awful.