First pictures inside Maldives cave where six divers lost their lives

Five Italians on a research trip were killed during a dive into the 160 ft deep ‘shark cave’ in the Devana Kandu cave system last week (Picture: Instagram/DanEurope)

The first pictures from the Maldives cave where six people have died have been released.

Five Italians on a research trip were killed during a dive into the 160 ft deep ‘shark cave’ in the Devana Kandu cave system last week.

Images published by Dan Europe reveal the underwater passages before natural light diminishes and the tunnels are plunged into darkness.

The bodies of ecology professor Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, researcher Muriel Oddenino, and marine biologist Federico Gualtieri have all been recovered.

They were accompanied by diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, whose body was found last week.

In total six people have been killed as part of the cave dive, with Maldivian military rescue diver Mohamed Mahudhee dying from decompression illness on Saturday during a recovery mission.

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Images published by Dan Europe reveal the underwater passages before natural light diminishes and the tunnels are plunged into darkness

In total six people have been killed as part of the cave dive

Sharing the pictures on Instagram, diving organisation Dan Europe said: ‘Natural light still filters through the entrance before the system descends into darkness.’

The pro-divers found the Italians in a corridor with a dead-end inside, Italy’s daily newspaper La Repubblica reported.

The company’s CEO said: ‘There was no way out from there,.’

Near the entrance to the cave there is a very large and bright cavern with a sandy bottom, with a corridor at the end.

The corridor has little light but ‘visibility, using artificial lighting, was excellent’, the CEO said.

Near the entrance to the cave there is a very large and bright cavern with a sandy bottom, with a corridor at the end

There is another corridor in the chamber which can easily be confused for the one the divers entered through due to a sandbank which looks like a wall obstructing vision

In total six people have died during the dive, including ecology professor Monica Montefalcone (left) and her daughter Giorgia Sommacal (right)

Researcher Muriel Oddenino had been on an official scientific mission with Ms Montefalcone prior to the dive (Picture: Facebook)

It was 30 metres long , leading to a second chamber which is large but has no natural light.

But there is another corridor in the chamber which can easily be confused for the one the divers entered through due to a sandbank which looks like a wall obstructing vision.

This corridor is only a few metres long, but was where the divers’ bodies were discovered.

Gianluca Benedetti’s body was the first to be recovered last week

Federico Gualtieri, a marine biologist, died during the cave dive on Thursday.

Marroni said: ‘The divers’ bodies were all found inside, as if they had mistaken it for the right one.’

Due to limited air supply, it would have been difficult for the divers to return.

Marroni said: ‘Realising that the path is the wrong one and having little air, perhaps after going back and forth, is terrifying. Then you breathe quickly, and the air supply decreases.’

Monica’s husband and dad of Giorgia Carlo Sommacal told Italian media his wife ‘was one of the best divers in the world’ and would never put his daughter at risk.

He said she had carried out about 5,000 dives and was ‘never reckless’.

The Italian tour operator that managed the diving trip has denied authorising or knowing about the group’s deep dive, which exceeded local limits, its lawyer told Italian local publication Corriere della Sera.

An investigation is underway to establish the cause of death.

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