BODIES OF FOUR REMAINING ITALIAN SCUBA DIVERS REPATRIATED FROM THE MALDIVES — SHOCKING “12-SECOND VIDEO CHILL” FOUND ON RETURNED PHONE LEAVES AIRPORT IN UTTER SILENCE 💔 The somber tarmac of Rome’s airport was enveloped in a heavy, suffocating silence today as the bodies of the four remaining Italian scuba divers were officially repatriated from the Maldives. What began as a dream tropical holiday near Alimathaa island ended in a national tragedy, leaving families completely shattered by a sudden, deep-water nightmare. But it is a haunting discovery made inside the returned personal effects that has now sent social media into a total meltdown, capturing a raw, human tragedy that has reduced millions to tears. According to authorities, among the recovered belongings flown back to the families was a water-sealed device containing a chilling, final 12-second video captured just moments before the dive went tragically wrong. The footage shows the group smiling and waving, but it was a fleeting, unexplained shadow in the background and a final, frantic hand gesture from one of the divers that has left seasoned forensic experts completely frozen. As the coffins were slowly wheeled off the plane, that single, frozen memory has turned a tragic repatriation into a haunting mystery that no one will ever forget…

Bodies of four remaining Italian scuba divers repatriated from the Maldives

The bodies of the four remaining Italian scuba divers who drowned in an underwater cave in the Maldives have been repatriated.

Monica Montefalcone, a marine biologist from the University of Genoa; her daughter Giorgia Sommacal; researcher Muriel Oddenino; and recent graduate Federico Gualtieri were brought home to Italy early Saturday.

Montefalcone and Gualtieri’s bodies were recovered Tuesday by an elite squad of Finnish divers, and Sommacal’s and Oddenino’s were pulled out of the water Wednesday.

They were all found in the cave’s third and deepest chamber with empty oxygen tanks.

Marine biologist Monica Montefalcone smiling in a blue wetsuit on a boat was on a scientific mission to the Maldives.
Marine biologist Monica Montefalcone was on a scientific mission to the Maldives.ZUMAPRESS.com
Federico Gualtieri posing in a swimsuit and sunglasses for a photo.
Federico Gualtieri’s body was pulled out of the water on Tuesday, along with Montefalcone.ZUMAPRESS.com

The fifth diver, diving instructor and boat captain Gianluca Benedetti, was found May 14, the evening of the tragedy, away from the group near the mouth of the cave in the first chamber, before the search was called off because of bad weather.

His body arrived on a repatriation flight to Milan Tuesday, and an autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

The five Italians vanished during a deep-water dive inside a cave 164 feet underwater in Vaavu Atoll in what officials called the worst diving accident in the island nation’s history.

Portrait of Muriel Oddenino.
Marine biology research fellow Muriel Oddenino was part of the Maldives mission with Montefalcone.Muriel Oddenino / Facebook
Giorgia Sommacal, an Italian national who died while scuba diving in the Maldives, poses for a photo.
Her body was pulled out on Wednesday, along with Monetfalcone’s daughter Giorgia Sommacal.Giorgia Sommacal / Instagram

Rome’s prosecutor’s office is investigating the case as a culpable homicide, the Italian legal equivalent of manslaughter.

Part of the probe is to determine why the group of experienced divers went below the Maldives legal recreational diving limits of 100 feet without the required training, permit or equipment.

They’re believed to have run out of oxygen after getting lost in the cave, according to the Finnish rescuers, who said visibility drops drastically as one goes further inside and light stops shining, while sediment from the bottom of the ocean clouds the view.

Ground crew unloading cargo, including coffins, from a Turkish Airlines Airbus A330-300 at Milan's Malpensa airport.
Coffins carrying the bodies of the divers who died in the Maldives are unloaded from a plane at Milan’s Malpensa airport in Italy, on Saturday, May 23, 2026.Marco Ottico/LaPresse via AP
Cremated remains of the divers who died in the Maldives being unloaded from a plane at Milan's Malpensa airport.
Coffins carrying the bodies of the divers who died in the Maldives arrive at Milan’s Malpensa airport in Italy, on Saturday, May 23, 2026.Marco Ottico/LaPresse via AP

Why Benedetti, 44, was away from the group is also a mystery. It’s believed he may have been trying to escape but ran out of air before he could resurface.

Both the Italian boat operator, Albatros, and the University of Genoa, who sent some of the researchers to the Maldives on a scientific mission, were quick to distance themselves from the tragedy — saying they had not authorized the deep dive and it was not planned.

Members of the Maldives National Defence Force on a boat during a search and recovery operation.
One of the divers from the Maldives National Defence Force died in the rescue mission before the Finnish stepped in.SOPHIA NASIF/EPA/Shutterstock

Italian investigators have questioned three University of Genoa professors, including one, Stefano Vanin, who was on the boat – the Duke of York, which has since had its license suspended by the Maldives government – but did not take part in the tragic dive.

They’ve also been handed the recovered diving equipment, including GoPros, that might provide clues to what happened.

With Post wires

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