Caving expert: with the recovery of the equipment we will know why they died

"I was contacted by the Farnesina and confirmed my willingness to leave for the Maldive (which was no longer necessary given the discovery of the bodies, ndr). Now theDan Europe, which is a research and insurance organisation for divers worldwide, has taken over the reins. The five divers were insured with Dan Europe and they are operating, cooperating, with private individuals, as in my case, because there are people in the industry who do exploration, of cave diving, which is a very special subject'.

This was explained to Adnkronos by Giulio Venditti, an Army paratrooper and experienced cave diver who has contributed to the discovery of numerous underwater caves in Italy and abroad.

"The hypothesis of breathing mixtures or some malfunction in the refilling and that carbon monoxide may have entered the cylinders is a thing to be ascertained, they are only hypotheses and until there is the recovery of the bodies and equipment they remain as such. The only factor that can give us a certainty of what happened is the recovery of the equipment," Venditti stressed.

"The second important thing is to find out whether they penetrated the cave, because nobody has explained this to us yet. Only the first body was found adjacent to the cave entrance.

But of the other people we do not know, and until the bodies are found we cannot speak of penetration or exploration'.