Five Italians, including faculty and students from the University of Genoa, have been killed in a scuba diving incident while exploring underwater caves in the Maldives’ Vaavu Atoll.
According to UPI, five Italians have been killed in a scuba diving incident while exploring underwater caves at a depth of more than 160 feet in the Vaavu Atoll area of the Maldives.
Four of the deceased were faculty and students from the University of Genoa, while the fifth was the dive boat manager and instructor. The boat crew alerted authorities after the team failed to return to the surface.
Italian University and Research Minister Anna Maria Bernini said: “The tragedy that has struck the University of Genoa deeply shakes the entire Italian academic community. There is pain for which words are not enough. In this moment so dramatic, I extend my most sincere thoughts and my closeness to the families, to the Rector, to colleagues, to students, and to the entire Genoese university community, hit by a loss that leaves us dismayed.”
UPI reported that bad weather was hampering recovery operations, with Maldivian Coast Guard vessels on scene assisted by an expert Italian diver.
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