Divers scouring the wreck of the luxury yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday have found the bodies of five of the six missing persons.
The UK tech entrepreneur Mike 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 56-metre yacht, named Bayesian and sailing under a British flag, was carrying 22 people and had anchored just off shore near the port of Porticello when it was hit by what was believed to be a tornado or waterspout.
The body of the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, was located shortly after the vessel sank.
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Mr Lynch is of Irish heritage – his father was a fireman from Co Cork, and his mother was a nurse from Co Tipperary.
The director-general of Sicily’s civil protection agency, Salvo Cocina, has confirmed that four bodies have been recovered by divers with the fifth having been found but not yet brought back to shore.
Cocina said: “On behalf of myself and my colleagues, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the families of the victims and express our condolences to them at this difficult time”.
One person remains unaccounted for. It was earlier reported that all six bodies had been found.
Fifteen of the 22 passengers and crew on board – including Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares – were rescued after escaping on to a lifeboat.
Body bags were seen being brought into the harbour aboard a fire brigade boat and lifted up on to the quayside.
The Italian Coastguard previously did not rule out the possibility that those missing may still be alive, with experts speculating air pockets could have formed as the yacht sank.
Sasha Murray (29), from Co Sligo, was among those rescued. She is staying with the other survivors at a resort in the small town of Santa Flavia.
The search has been challenging for the rescue teams, who have struggled to get to the yacht, which is resting on the seabed off the coast at a depth of 50m. Once they breached the hull further investigation was obstructed by furniture and debris.
Fire crews described the rescue operation as “complex”, with divers limited to 12-minute underwater shifts.
Investigators are questioning witnesses and survivors. The yacht’s captain, James Cutfield, was reportedly interrogated for more than two hours.
The port authority has opened a separate investigation from that of the public prosecutor in the town of Termini Imerese, Sicily, to determine whether all adequate safety measures were taken by the crew. - Agencies