On 14 May 2026, five Italian divers died in a deep cave system in Vaavu Atoll in the Maldives. There was subsequently much speculation about the exact circumstances of the accident. At the DAN Divers Days 2026, held in conjunction with the EUBS (European Baromedical Society) Congress in Geneva, we received detailed first-hand information for the first time from Laura Marroni, CEO of DAN Europe, who had also coordinated the international rescue operation. The accident: one las

Am 14. Mai 2026 starben im Vaavu-Atoll auf den Malediven fünf italienische Taucher in einem tiefen Höhlensystem. Über den genauen Unfallhergang wurde danach viel spekuliert. Bei den DAN Divers Days 2026 anlässich des EUBS (European Baromedical Society)-Kongresses in Genf erhielten wir von Laura Marroni, CEO von DAN Europe, die auch die internationale Bergungsaktion koordiniert hatte, erstmals detaillierte Informationen aus erster Hand. Der Unfall: ein letzter besonderer Tauch

Recent case reports, and in particular the MRI findings, raise an intriguing question: could what we refer to as cerebral DCS in freediving actually, in some cases, not be decompression sickness at all, but rather posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome – or PRES for short (roughly translated as: a reversible brain disorder syndrome affecting the occipital region)? Taravana syndrome The term ‘Taravana’ originates from neurological incidents among the traditional mother-o