<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Five people have died on a scuba diving excursion in the Maldives, </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/italy" rel="" target="_blank" title="Italy's"><span>Italy's</span></a><span> foreign ministry has announced.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The five people, who were all Italian nationals, were scuba diving off Vaavu Atoll, the ministry </span><a href="http://esteri.it/en/sala_stampa/archivionotizie/comunicati/2026/05/cinque-connazionali-deceduti-in-immersione-subacquea-alle-maldive/" rel="" target="_blank" title="said in a statement"><span>said in a statement</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The divers are reported to have died while attempting to explore caves at a depth of 50 metres," the statement read.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LIVE UPDATES:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-politics-live-updates-donald-trump-visits-china-may-15-iran-israel-middle-east-war-blog-rolling-updates/521fb26c-adc2-4a13-b3de-93e92045da89" rel="" target="_blank" title="US abruptly pulls troops from major continent"><strong><span>US abruptly pulls troops from major continent</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The reconstruction of the incident is still underway by the Maldivian authorities."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Maldives defence force said in a statement that one body had been found in a cave 60 metres below the ocean's surface.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The other four bodies were also believed to be in the cave, with a "high risk" search operation underway.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/five-italians-die-during-diving-trip-maldives/bbe7b828-e5f4-43e4-9147-98a6b1255480" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The group was reported missing by the crew of the boat they had ridden out on when they failed to surface.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/cuba-running-out-of-oil-energy-crisis/e36a57bc-4d4c-4401-8f3d-725441f5390f" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Aussies warned against visiting Cuba as island on edge of crisis</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The University of Genoa identified four of the victims on social media.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The University of Genoa expresses its deepest condolences for the sudden and tragic passing of Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, Muriel Oddenino, and Federico Gualtieri," the institution's X account said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Montefalcone was an associate professor of ecology at the university and a marine biology expert.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Oddenino was a research assistant at the same university, while Gualtieri was a recent graduate.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div 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