A local expert who has dived in caves in the Maldives ‘countless times’ has described the terrifying final moments a group of five divers may have endured – and dubbed the tragedy an accident waiting to happen.

Alarm bells were raised on Thursday after five Italians, including a mother and daughter, failed to resurface after attempting to explore the caves at a depth of around 165ft (50m).

The body of the local instructor who led the group, Gianluca Benedetti, was discovered within the passageway from the mouth of the Thinwana Kandu cave, also known as Shark Cave, on Friday, at a depth of around 197ft (60m).

The rest of the group was found on Monday by the team of three Finnish divers trapped at the end of the tunnel, deep at the bottom of the cave’s third chamber, which is in complete darkness.

This now marks one of the worst single diving accidents in the history of the Indian Ocean nation.

‘I have visited those caves countless times. There is no current. They swam into that third cave. They chose to go in there,’ Shafraz Naeem, a former military diver for the Maldives National Defence Force, told the Daily Mail.

‘I believe the instructor intentionally swam away from the group. Maybe he legged it up before he ran out of air. The rest of the group died in that third chamber and Benedetti died in the passageway trying to get out.’

The cave is divided into three separate chambers, connected by narrow passageways, which sharks, stingrays and lobsters inhabit. Mr Naeem, despite being an expert diver, has intentionally never entered the third chamber due to safety concerns.

Shafraz Naeem, a former military diver for the Maldives National Defence Force, pictured in the Thinwana Kandu cave

Mr Naeem, 50, has visited the cave ‘countless times’ but has never entered the third chamber, where four of the five members of the group were found

The cave opens at 164ft (50m), which is already significantly deeper than the 98ft (30m) recreational diving limit under regulations in the Maldives. The Indian Ocean nation is known as a diving location that strictly regulates technical diving, making it near impossible to do while restricting available equipment.

‘The cave is unforgiving,’ Mr Naeem, who is from the island of Male, described. ‘It is closed, pitch-black and you can only see where you shine the light.

‘If something goes wrong, you cannot shoot up to the surface like you can in open dives. You are stopped and restricted, and, at that depth of below 55m [181ft], it is just completely dangerous.’

The perilous conditions initially limited the search for the group, notably conducted by professional divers, due to considerations over oxygen and decompression – as well as rough weather and sea conditions.

An initial search operation for the victims ended in tragedy on Saturday when Maldivian military rescue diver Mohamed Mahudhee was admitted to hospital and died from decompression sickness after assisting in the recovery effort.

Mr Mahudhee was a close friend of Mr Naeem. The 50-year-old is now questioning why the Maldivian government made the decision to send his pal down as an emergency diver who ‘doesn’t have the proper training and equipment’, given the nation’s restrictions on technical dives – adding: ‘Maybe a politician wanted a badge.’

As well as Benedetti, the other victims of the diving group have been identified as Monica Montefalcone, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Genoa; her daughter, Giorgia Sommacal; marine biologist Federico Gualtieri and researcher Muriel Oddenino.

Notably some members of the group seemingly did not have adequate diving qualifications for the caves depth, Mr Naeem said, nor were well-known safety rules followed.

The use of ropes, or lines known as ‘Ariadne’s thread’, is mandatory in certain caves to guide divers and keep them together, especially in darkness or at extreme depths.

This photograph, shared by the Maldives President’s Media Division, shows divers preparing to search for the four missing Italian divers near Alimathaa Island, Vaavu Atoll, Maldives, Saturday, May 16, 2026

Sergeant Major Mohammed Mahudhee, a diver for the Maldives coast guard, lost his life as recovery operations continued in the Vaavu Atoll on Saturday

However no ropes were found within the cave walls when the trapped bodies were recovered, Mr Naeem said, further implying the group’s ill-preparation.

Despite visiting the caves numerous times and recovering drowned bodies as a previous profession, the military diver has never traced the group’s journey into the third chamber – and believes last week’s tragedy was ‘an accident waiting to happen’, with a lack of knowledge and prior groundwork.

He added: ‘The talk on the local island is they must have tried to plan it, otherwise they wouldn’t have done it.’

For a dive of this depth, technical diving equipment is required, while the group was discovered carrying only recreational gear, used to dive down to 98ft (30m).

Mr Naeem explained: ‘The body of the guide who was recovered had a single air tank on him. Where is your back up or redundancy? People who are not trained in cave diving or without proper equipment, like this, tend to get knocked by nitrogen narcosis. Then things start to spiral down from there and get worse.’

Nitrogen narcosis is the poisoning of blood due to a lack of oxygen, leaving divers with impaired judgement or anxiety. Normal compressed air can become toxic around 181ft (55m) and hits people differently at different depths, dependent on fitness level.

Mr Naeem speculates the group got into difficulty while in the dark depths and, without ropes to guide them back or the appropriate equipment, ran out of oxygen, were hit by nitrogen narcosis – or the above mixed together.

It is understood the tour operator Albatros Top Boats is known locally for hosting deep dives on its two boats, breaking the government’s diving regulations, as officials fail to check up on rule abidance by local companies.

Instructor Gianluca Benedetti was recovered from the mouth of the cave, while the other four divers were located deep at the bottom of the cave’s third chamber

One of the victims was named as Monica Montefalcone, a professor and researcher at the University of Genoa

Giorgia Sommacal, 22, Montefalcone’s daughter, also died

‘That operator are well known to do all these deep dives, breaking rules, everybody knows it but don’t do anything,’ Mr Naeem said.

‘The owner doesn’t dive herself but the boat managers are known to go deep, breaking the 98ft (30m) regulations.’

This is backdropped by the Maldives being the only dive destination in the world where technical diving is banned, therefore the equipment is not readily available to use.

Current diving regulations date back to 1991, with a current reform being pushed through government to increase recreational dive limits from 98ft (30m) to 131ft (40m).

‘Local dive centres and other companies are appeasing tourists and allowing them to dive deeper, where there may be more sharks,’ Mr Naeem, who runs the podcast Shaff Dives You Crazy, said.

‘So for them, it is “let’s go see the sharks. Let’s go see the treasure sharks”. A lot of boats go below the legal 98ft, many going to 131ft or 164ft. But this one was life-threatening.’

The Italian tour operator that managed the diving trip has denied authorising or being aware of the deep dive that violated local limits, its lawyer told Italian daily Corriere della Sera on Saturday.

Orietta Stella, representing Albatros Top Boat, said the operator ‘did not know’ the group planned to descend beyond 98ft (30m) – the recreational diving limit in the Maldives.

Muriel Oddenino, a victim of the diving incident, was also a researcher at the University of Genoa

Federico Gualtieri who died in the Maldives diving tragedy

That threshold requires special permission from Maldivian maritime authorities, and the tour operator ‘would have never allowed it’, she said.

The dive far exceeded what was planned for a scientific cruise focused on coral sampling at standard depths, Ms Stella added.

The victims were experienced divers, she said, but the equipment used appeared to be standard recreational gear rather than technical equipment suited for deep cave excursions.