The five Italian divers who died in the Maldives on May 14 have been found to have died from a “total lack of oxygen” in their tanks. These conclusions were reported by the consultants of the Busto Arsizio public prosecutor’s office after autopsies performed on May 25 and 26 at Gallarate Hospital (Varese). The Corriere della Sera reported the findings. Those who died were Professor Monica Montefalcone of the University of Genoa, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, researcher Muriel Oddenino, recent graduate Federico Gualtieri, and boat operator and dive guide Gianluca Bendetti.

The autopsy team included forensic pathologist Luca Tajana and toxicologist Cristiana Stramesi, both from the University of Pavia, and Luciano Ditri, a specialist in sports and diving medicine. Ditri’s role was to place the findings in context, but any definitive conclusions are pending comparison with analyses of recovered material. For all five, the cause of death was cited as anoxia, meaning a complete lack of oxygen. The divers are believed to have been unable to breathe while at around 60 meters depth, beyond the duration their tanks could sustain.

At present, only hypotheses can be made about what caused them to lose those crucial minutes. Toxicology tests, carried out to check for substances that could cause death or loss of consciousness, showed no abnormalities, which gives weight to the hypothesis that the group became disoriented. The autopsies did not reveal injuries consistent with a shark attack, despite sharks being present in those waters, nor signs of an incident that would have required assistance from other divers. To definitively clarify the cause and sequence of events, these results must be cross-checked with analyses of the equipment used: GoPro cameras, tanks, dive computers and wrist instruments.

Responsibility for the investigation now passes to the Rome prosecutor’s office, which is handling the file for involuntary manslaughter and will decide the next steps. The Busto Arsizio prosecutor’s office had carried out the autopsies on delegation because they needed to be performed at the nearest hospital equipped to receive the bodies.