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Maldives Scuba Diving Deaths: Terrifying New Theory Emerges About Cause of Tragedy That Killed 6

By Jessica McBride Men's Journal

A terrifying new theory has emerged in the deaths of five tourists who were scuba diving in the Maldives. A sixth death occurred when a military diver trying to find the still-missing remains also died.

According to The New York Post, experts say the tourists' deaths may have been caused by "oxygen toxicity" or "sheer panic." An investigation is open to determine the formal cause. The military diver, Mohamed Mahdi, a member of the Maldivian National Defense Force, "died from decompression sickness during the dangerous mission," Maldives presidential spokesman Mohamed Hussain Shareef told Fox News.

However, experts are sketching out what they think may have happened to the experienced divers, who were from Italy. Maldivian presidential spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef told reporters the cave "was exceptionally dangerous," according to Fox News.

"The cave is so deep that divers even with the best equipment do not try to approach," he said. According to ABC News, "The recreational diving limit in the Maldives is 30 meters (98 feet)." The dive was "about 50 meters (160 feet)."

An Expert Thinks Something May Have Gone 'Wrong With the Tanks'

Pulmonologist Claudio Micheletto raised a chilling prospect; he told the Italian-language news site Adnkronosthat "it's likely that something went wrong with the tanks." According to Fox News, the "unauthorized deep dive" had "far exceeded the Maldives' recreational diving limits."

"Death from oxygen toxicity, or hyperoxia, is one of the most dramatic deaths that can occur during a dive - a horrible end," added Micheletto to the Italian publication. "When you breathe in too high a concentration of oxygen, the gas becomes toxic to the body," he said.

"During the dive, dizziness, pain, altered consciousness and disorientation occur, making it impossible to surface," he added.

Other experts also weighed in. John Volanthen, a British Cave Rescue Council diving officer, told CNN that it was "unknown whether currents played a part in the incident, but that the cave's depth and silt is what is 'unquestionably hampering' recovery efforts."

"It's essentially a very long way into the cave and normally, cave divers would lay a guideline to find their way into the cave. And that's potentially what happened with the missing party," he told CNN.

According to ABC News, "The victims were experienced divers, but the equipment used appeared to be standard recreational gear rather than technical equipment suited for deep cave diving." The network noted, "Experts say it's easy to become disoriented or lost inside caves, particularly as sediment clouds can sharply reduce visibility."

Scuba divers offered their own theories on X. ". 160 is way past past narc depth and into CNS oxygen toxicity range. Been diving for most of my life and the deepest I've ever been was 210 on trimix and that was incredibly intimidating. I don't even go past 40 without nitrox. Can't imagine 160 on air. Those poor people," wrote one diver.

The 5 Divers Were on a 160-Foot Excursion When They Disappeared

According to The Post, the five divers all "died on the same 160-foot excursion in the waters of Vaavu Atoll, which sparked a police investigation."

In addition, according to the Italian site, "In the area of the dive was in force a yellow alert issued by the weather service of the Maldives, due to the rough sea and the worsening weather."

Alfonso Bolognini, president of Simsi (Italian Society of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine), raised the idea of a possible panic attack to the Italian news site, saying, "Inside a cave at 50 meters deep. Just a problem to an operator or a panic attack to a diver, which agitation generates the turbidity of the water and can worsen visibility. In these cases - warns the doctor - the panic component could make even fatal mistakes."

According to the Adnkronos, the Italians "were on a cruise aboard the 'Duke of York.'" They were named as "Monica Montefalcone and her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, Gianluca Benedetti, Federico Gualtieri and Muriel Oddenino." Montefalcone was described as "a Unige researcher, worked at the Distav, Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Genoa."

The Italians "who died in the Vaavu Atoll in the Maldives were participating in a diving activity near Alimathaa, one of the most popular resorts by diving enthusiasts. Probably at that time they were in a cave, about 60 meters deep," added the Italian site.

Carlo Sommacal, Montefalcone's husband and Giorgia's father, told CNN that he was not sure what caused the tragedy, saying that "something must have happened down there" because both his wife and daughter had "extensive experience" diving.

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This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 17, 2026 at 10:11 PM.