Boyfriend of Maldives diver killed in scuba tragedy reveals final conversation

One of the five Italians who tragically died while exploring underwater caves in the Maldives had sent a final message to her boyfriend just moments before making her final descent beneath the ocean.

Federico Colombo, 26 has shared that he 'still can't understand' what happened to his girlfriend last Thursday, when her entire diving group died in an unexplained incident while exploring Vaavu Atoll in the Indian Ocean.

Italian newspapers report that Colombo had been eagerly awaiting the return of his girlfriend, 20-year-old Giorgia Sommacal, who had embarked on the expedition with her mother, respected marine biologist and experienced diver Monica Montefalcone.

The pair had been dating for almost three years when Thursday's tragedy struck, leaving Colombo unable to comprehend all that he's lost, with the bartender saying Sommacal was going to be 'my [future] wife, the mother of my children.'

Giorgia's mom, marine biologist Monica Montefalcone, also died on the trip (University of Genova)

"She was due back on the 24th, for my birthday, and I couldn’t wait for her to arrive. I’ll wait until then because I still can’t understand what happened," he shared with Italian media.

Colombo added that they were all set to go on holiday to Egypt once Sommacal had finished her degree at the University of Genoa, where her mother also taught, later this year.

Speaking to local papers, Colombo shared the moment that he learned the awful news that his girlfriend would not be coming home, when Giorgia's heartbroken father came to his place of work.

He told Corriere Della Sera: "He came here to the bar and told me. I still can’t process what happened. She certainly wants me to move on with my life, but now I don’t know how to react, how to move on."

As fate would have it, Giorgia's final message would be to her long term boyfriend, with whom she shared her excitement about the complicated dive she was about to embark on with her mom.

Colombo said that the text came in 'a few moments' before she began her ill-fated dive.

The incident is believed to be the worst single diving accident in the Maldives (Photo by Mohamed Afrah / AFP via Getty Images)

He said: "She was thrilled, as always. She told me that as soon as she surfaced, the first thing she’d do was send me photos of the Maldivian depths.

"I waited for those shots. But they never arrived. Then her father, Carlo, told me about the tragedy. My world fell apart."

And it was not just his girlfriend that the bartender lost, he shared that Montefalcone was 'like a second mother to me' and that 'the relationship between her and Giorgia was unique.'

Colombo added: "They were incredibly close."

The battle to recover those who died while exploring the complicated series of caves, roughly 160ft below the ocean's surface, is still ongoing, and has already increased the death toll from the tragedy to six with the death of a military diver.

The University of Genoa has said in a statement: "The University of Genoa expresses its deep sorrow for the sudden and tragic death of Monica Montefalcone, associate professor of Ecology at the Department of Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences - DISTAV, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, a UniGe student in Biomedical Engineering, Muriel Oddenino, a research fellow at DISTAV, and Federico Gualtieri, a recent UniGe graduate in Marine Biology and Ecology.

"The sympathy of the entire university community goes out to the families, colleagues and students who shared their human and professional journey."