Maldives scuba tragedy: Diver dies in search of five Italian tourists who drowned in underwater cave

The toll of the Maldives scuba tragedy increased after the authorities informed that a Maldivian diver who was searching for the bodies of the five Italian tourists killed earlier this week in the underwater lake also died.

Sergeant Major Mohamed Mahudhee became sick during the third day of recovery operations in Vaavu Atoll, according to The Sun, which translated an X post by the Maldivian military.“His courage, sacrifice, and service to the nation will always be remembered. Our deepest condolences to his family and colleagues,” the military reportedly stated, according to the outlet.Mahudhee was one of eight divers deployed to find the bodies of Monica Montefalcone, a marine biology professor at the University of Genoa, and her 20-year-old daughter, Giorgia Sommacal, who vanished during the 160-ft dive into the underwarer cave.Muriel Oddenino of Turin, Gianluca Benedetti of Padua, and Federico Gualtieri of Borgomanero also failed to resurface from the deadly dive.Only Benedetti’s body has been recovered, officials said.The cause of the divers’ deaths is still under investigation, though some experts have theorized that oxygen toxicity and sheer panic are possible factors that led to the deaths of the five scuba divers.

'Something must have happened...my wife is one of the best divers'

Montefalcone’s husband, Carlo Sommacal, raised suspicion that “something must have happened down” in the cave, saying his wife, a professor at the University of Genoa, was too experienced a diver to have taken risks.

“The only certainty I have is that my wife is among the best divers on the face of the earth. And that she’s always been conscientious. Never would she have endangered the life of our daughter” or the others with them, he told La Repubblica on Friday.“Something must have happened down there,” the retired scientist said. “Maybe one went into trouble, maybe the oxygen cylinders, I have no idea. But I’m ready to swear anything about Monica’s behavior,” he added.

Oxygen toxicity behind death?

Though the reason for the deaths has not yet been ascertained, experts suspect oxygen toxiity which happens when too much oxygen becomes dangerous. Humans are built to breathe air containing about 21% oxygen. But when someone breathes oxygen at unusually high concentrations or under intense pressure for too long, it can become toxic to the body, according to UMass Memorial Health.That happens because excess oxygen creates an overload of unstable molecules known as “free radicals.” Normally, the body can neutralize them with antioxidants. But when too many build up too quickly, they begin damaging cells and tissues.