FIVE Italian divers who drowned in a tragic Maldives expedition may have been sucked into a cave and ran out of oxygen trying to escape, a new theory suggests.

An elite task force of divers recovered two of four bodies trapped deep inside Thinwana Kandu cave, also known as “shark cave” on Monday.

Monica Montefalcone, her daughter Giorgia Sommacal, Muriel Oddenino, and Federico Gualtieri were discovered by the elite unit after disappearing on Thursday morning.

The university research group were accompanied by boat captain and seasoned diving instructor Gianluca Benedetti, who was found last week.

The divers were highly-experienced and their disappearance has left investigators scratching their heads.

Several theories have emerged as to how they succumbed to such a tragic fate, but perhaps the most terrifying is a recent suggestion that the group were sucked into the cave.

Alfonso Bolognini, president of the Italian Society of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine, told Italian outlet Adnkronos that they may have been caught out while checking out the cave for future dives.

He suggested that they may have been sucked into it by a very strong current caused by the site’s unique entrance.

The cave’s narrow pathway may have created a “Venturi effect” where fluid must speed up to maintain a constant flow, causing a pressure drop and creating a vacuum.

Bolognini said that he’d come to the hypothesis after hearing about the conditions underwater from the expert DAN Europe divers.

He said: “They first sent a ROV (remotely operated vehicle) to the cave entrance. They couldn’t get it in due to the very strong currents, so they had to go there themselves.”

Based on a cave diagram sent to him by the divers, Bolognini believes that a “formidable” Venturi effect could be created.

“Two things could have happened after the suction,” Bolognini explains.

“Either everyone was sucked in, or one was sucked in and the others attempted a rescue.”

The theory would provide an explanation for why such a qualified group of divers went missing.

Monica had over 5,000 dives under her belt, and her husband has blasted any suggestion that she would knowingly put her daughter in harm’s way.

Her husband and Giorgia’s father, Carlo Sommacal, said: “The only certainty I have is that my wife is among the best divers on the face of the earth.”

In an interview with Repubblica, a grieving Carlo said his wife “would never have put our daughter’s life at risk”.

Bolognini has suggested that the group were exploring a reef and decided to visit the cave at the end of the trip.

“They decided to make this dive a little deeper to view the entrance, they were sucked into a probably dark environment, with zero visibility even for finning, in a state of great disorientation, probably due to panic,” Bolognini claimed.

“In their desperate search for a way out, they probably also ran out of air.

“But that’s it, In my opinion, a fairly reliable reconstruction of what happened.”

It comes as the Rome Prosecutor’s Office has launched a manslaughter probe into the divers’ deaths.

Two remaining bodies are expected to be recovered in a second operation on Wednesday.

Each attempt to dive and retrieve the bodies lasts about three hours – and it is immediately aborted if any obstacles are encountered.

Perilous local search efforts were hampered by bad weather over the weekend.

A Maldivian military rescue diver Mohamed Mahudhee died from decompression illness on Saturday – highlighting the mission’s extreme danger and bringing the total death toll to six.