British technology tycoon Mike Lynch and five others are feared to have died, with their bodies trapped inside a luxury yacht which sank in a tornado.
Vincenzo Zagarola of the Italian Coastguard said this was the working theory of officials on Sicily because it is believed the boat sank quickly and search and rescue efforts by sea and air have so far delivered no results.
“We think they are still inside the boat, that is our very hard idea,” he said.
“Our search and rescue activity by sea and air has gone on for around 36 hours. Of course, we do not exclude that they are not inside the boat, but we know the boat sank quickly.
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“We suppose that the six people missing may not have had time to get out of the boat.”
Asked about the likelihood of them being alive, he replied: “Never say never, but reasonably the answer should be not.”
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Bayesian was moored around 1km off the coast of Porticello when it sank at around 5am local time on Monday as the area was hit by a storm.
The missing tourists are: Mr Lynch; his daughter, Hannah Lynch; Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer; his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo; and his wife, Neda Morvillo.
Mr Lynch is of Irish heritage – his father was a fireman from Co Cork, and his mother was a nurse from Co Tipperary.
Fifteen of the 22 passengers and crew on-board – including Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares – were rescued after escaping on to a lifeboat.
Sasha Murray (29), the only Irish woman rescued, is staying with the other survivors at a resort in the small town of Santa Flavia, as confirmed by the local authorities.
Domina Zagarella resort, the main hospitality facility in the area, has voluntarily decided to host her and the other 14 shipwreck survivors.
“As soon as we realised what happened, and that they had been rescued, we did everything we could to provide them with immediate assistance,” explained Gaetano Daniele Marino, Santa Flavia’s deputy mayor.
The council mobilised to buy necessary clothes, and provide food in co-operation with local restaurants, which they are still doing to this date.
But when it came to accommodation, Domina Zagarella was pretty much the only reasonable option, as “it’s mainly private guesthouses and b&bs here.”
Marino described the next steps to The Irish Times: “Luckily they agreed to host them and so we decided to turn our touristic buses into transfers from the local hospitals to the resort, once people’s health conditions had been checked.”
As reported by Italian public broadcaster RAI’s journalist Carla Falzone this morning, the survivors only reported abrasions and minor fractures. They are, however, “still in shock.”
The 15 are also being assisted by local translators, international authorities on site and the yachting company Camper & Nicholsons arrived from Montecarlo.
“After more competent authorities reached our town, we stepped back,” explained Deputy Mayor Marino. “We just wanted to make sure these people were safe.”
“As a community of roughly 10,000 people with not many resources, I think we did well,” he added.
Italy’s fire brigade Vigili del Fuoco said it is developing a plan to enter the wreckage of Bayesian, which is resting on the seabed off the coast at a depth of 50m.
It described the operation as “complex”, with divers limited to 12-minute underwater shifts.
On Tuesday, an inflated orange lifeboat was docked at the harbour near where search crews are being dispatched.
One body was recovered close to the scene of the sinking on Monday. The body was that of Recaldo Thomas, the Italian coastguard told Sky News.
Gareth Williams a friend of the chef, who was reportedly Antiguan-Canadian, told the BBC: “I can talk for everyone that knew him when I say he was a well-loved, kind human being with a calm spirit.”
A spokesperson for the Canadian foreign ministry said they were “aware of reports that a Canadian citizen has died” and said consular officials were in contact with local authorities but declined to offer any further information.
Mr Thomas had previously been named in reports as Ricardo Thomas.
Mr Lynch, who founded software giant Autonomy in 1996, was cleared in June of conducting a massive fraud relating to an $11 billion (€9.8 billion) sale to US company Hewlett Packard.
The boat trip was a celebration of his acquittal.
A spokesperson for Morgan Stanley said the bank was “shocked and saddened” while Clifford Chance said it was a “tragic incident”.
One of the survivors, British tourist Charlotte Emsley, told la Repubblica she held her one-year-old daughter, Sofia, to stop her from drowning.
Charlotte and Sofia were treated in hospital, as was Sofia’s father, James Emsley.
Mr Lynch’s co-defendant Stephen Chamberlain died after being hit by a car while out running in Cambridgeshire on Saturday.
In a statement released through Cambridgeshire Police, Mr Chamberlain’s family said: “Steve was a much-loved husband, father, son, brother and friend.
“He was an amazing individual whose only goal in life was to help others in any way possible.” – Additional reporting PA