Five Italian citizens perished during a deep-water diving expedition in the Vaavu Atoll after failing to resurface from an underwater cave.The victims included a marine biology professor from the University of Genoa and her daughter, who were exploring depths of 50 meters near Alimatha.Authorities initiated an extensive search and rescue mission involving aircraft and speedboats after the group went missing from the Duke of York yacht.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is providing support to the families while investigators examine whether adverse weather or equipment failures caused the tragedy.