The Italian coast guard have recovered six bodies after a luxury yacht carrying British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch capsized off the north Sicilian coast. Image source: Jay Galvin, via Flickr.
Six people are confirmed dead and one missing after a luxury yacht sank off the north coast of Sicily.
The British-flagged Bayesian was anchored near the port of Porticello when it capsized before dawn on Monday 19 August following a “violent storm”.
10 crew and 12 passengers, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his guests, were on board at the time.
The cruise was reportedly to celebrate Lynch’s acquittal in a decade-long fraud trial, where he was found not guilty of all charges by a San Fransisco jury.
Bad weather had been forecast, but the Italian coast guard said it was stronger than predicted.
Karsen Borner, the captain of another vessel moored nearby, told Reuters the Bayesian keeled on its side shortly after the storm hit and sank within two minutes.
“Thunderstorms can turn out good or bad and this was a real violent squall… very violent, very intense, a lot of water, and I think a turning system like a tornado,” Borner said.
15 people were rescued, including Lynch’s wife and yacht owner Angela Bacares.
Italian news agency Adnkronos reported all 15 people rescued are in stable condition, but eight of them have been hospitalised.
One body was recovered from the water on Monday, later confirmed to be Recaldo Thomas, the yacht’s chef.
On Wednesday, divers searching the wreck found the bodies of five passengers and are still searching for one missing person. Authorities have not yet named the deceased.
The six passengers currently unaccounted for include Lynch and his daughter Hannah Lynch; Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chair of Morgan Stanley International bank; his wife Judy Bloomer; and lawyer Chris Morvillo, who represented Lynch during his trial, and his wife Neda Morvillo.
Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the wreck in the nearby town of Temerini Imerese.
In a separate development, Lynch’s former business partner and trial co-defendant Steve Chamberlain was struck by a car in Cambridgeshire on Saturday and later died from his injuries.
