Ireland

Sicily yacht disaster: relief in north Sligo as Irish woman alive after Bayesian tragedy

Sasha Murray (29) escaped Mike Lynch’s luxury yacht which sank off coast of Sicily

Bayesian disaster: Rescue boats are seen off the coast of Sicily. Photograph: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty
Bayesian disaster: Rescue boats are seen off the coast of Sicily. Photograph: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty
Marese McDonagh
Wed Aug 21 2024 - 13:44

A community in north Sligo expressed relief on Wednesday after learning Irish woman Sasha Murray (29) had escaped technology entrepreneur Mike Lynch’s Bayesian, the luxury yacht which sank off the coast of Italy.

Divers scouring the wreck of the yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday have reportedly found the bodies of five of the six.

Mr Lynch; his 18-year-old daughter Hannah Lynch; the Morgan Stanley International chair Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy; and the Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda, have been missing since the vessel went down.

The founder of technology company Autonomy, Mr Lynch was born to Irish parents in England and raised in Ilford, Essex. His father, from Cork, was a fireman. His mother, from Co Tipperary, was a nurse. He is reputed to have spent childhood summer holidays in Carrick-on-Suir.

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Many Sligo locals were unaware that Ms Murray had been working aboard the yacht but said they were very thankful that a popular local family who had endured tragedy in the past had been spared further heartbreak.

“They are good neighbours and a very respected family,” said next-door neighbour Dessie Carway who runs the Sligo Sea Barn beachfront tourist accommodation in the Maugherow area said

He said when she was a very young child Sasha lost her father Fionn Murray and grandfather Holger Schiller when their light aircraft crashed after taking off from Strandhill airport.

Fionn Murray, a native of Sligo, had been well known in motor racing circles and had come second in the 1990 Brands Hatch Festival, regarded as the world championships of Formula Ford racing. He was just 33 when he died in 1998.

“She lost her father and grandfather on the same day so it is a great relief that her family don’t have to deal with any more tragedy,” said Mr Carway. “You’d imagine that a guardian angel somewhere was watching over her”.

He said everyone was so relieved for Sasha’s mother Jessica, brother Kilian and grandmother Erika that she has survived.

[ Sicily yacht sinking: Bodies of Mike Lynch and others may be trapped in vessel, coastguard says ]

Sasha was one of 15 people who were rescued when the luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily in a freak weather event on Monday. It has been reported that she sustained an injury to her right leg and was staying with the other survivors at a resort in the small town of Santa Flavia.

Vincenzo Zagarola of the Italian Coastguard said the working theory of officials on Sicily was that the yacht sank in a tornado.

Sasha’s grandparents Holger and Erika Schiller holidayed in Co Sligo in the 1970s and after falling in love with place, moved from Germany and bought and renovated Ardtarmon Castle, in north Sligo. The Schiller family also run an estate agent’s, Schiller and Schiller.

[ Sicily yacht sinking: how do waterspouts form and what risk do they pose? ]

Local Independent councillor Marie Casserly also welcomed the news, saying she was very relieved for the family.

“Thank God she is safe. The family has had so much tragedy that this is very welcome news that Sasha has survived,” she said.