An Italian scientist, reeling from the loss of his wife and daughter in a tragic diving accident in the Maldives, asserted on Friday that an unforeseen event must have occurred, as his wife was too skilled a diver to take unnecessary risks.
Carlo Sommacal voiced his suspicions following the deaths of his wife, Monica Montefalcone, 52, and their 20-year-old daughter, Giorgia Sommacal. They were among five individuals who did not surface from a scuba diving expedition in a cave on Thursday morning.
“The only certainty I have is that my wife is one of the most skilled divers in the world. She has always been diligent and would never have put our daughter’s life or anyone else’s at risk,” Sommacal told La Repubblica on Friday.
“Something happened down there,” the retired scientist said with conviction.
“Perhaps someone encountered difficulty, or there was an issue with the oxygen tanks; I truly don’t know. But I am absolutely certain about Monica’s conduct,” the bereaved husband emphasized.
Monica and Giorgia were in the Maldives on an expedition with a group from the University of Genoa, where the mom was an associate professor of ecology, and her daughter a student. Two of the other three who died were part of the same uni group.
The grieving widower never suspected anything could happen, and his last message to his wife was a WhatsApp “to tell her that the cats were fine,” he told the Italian paper.
Now, he anxiously awaits news of the recovery mission, which had to be called off Friday due to “very bad” weather in the area. Officials say only the body of one diver — Gianluca Benedetti — has been found, correcting earlier reports it was Sommacal’s wife.
“Yesterday they said they had found the bodies, but it is not true,” Sommacal said. “And I don’t know what to think, because I would at least have them back here for the last goodbye, but I don’t know if I could bear it.”
He unexpectedly has to “be strong” for his son, Matthew, who is still in high school.
Sommacal said he met his wife, a renowned marine biologist, in Milan, and they only moved to Genoa because Monica told him, “I love the sea.”
Around 20 people, all Italians, were on board the “Duke of York,” the ship involved in the deadly dive, at the time.