Italy awards top honour to Finland cave divers
The honour was awarded on the day funeral services were held for two of the deceased Italian divers, a mother and her daughter.
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Italian President Sergio Mattarella has awarded Italy’s highest civilian honour to three Finnish divers who recovered the bodies of Italian divers who went missing in an underwater cave in the Maldives.
The bodies were recovered by Finnish diving specialists Sammy Parkarinen, Jenny Westaland and Patrick Gronquist. The three divers have previously taken part in cave-diving and recovery operations.
President Mattarella conferred the Order of Merit on the divers, Italy’s highest honour awarded to members of the public. According to Italian media reports, the award was presented in recognition of their role in recovering the bodies of the missing divers.
The honour was awarded on the day funeral services were held for two of the deceased Italian divers, a mother and her daughter.
The bodies of all those who died have since been returned to Italy. The funeral was held for Monica Montefalcon, a professor at the University of Genoa, and her 20-year-old daughter, Georgia Semacal.
Italian media reported that around 2,000 people attended the funeral. Family members, friends and residents from the area where the family lived were among those present.
Meanwhile, Staff Sergeant Mohamed Mahudhee of the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) died during the search operation for the missing divers. Maldives Police Service is investigating whether negligence contributed to his death.
