According to a source close to the situation, Italian rescue divers have located the body of the last person missing after British tech billionaire Mike Lynch’s family boat sank near Sicily. That person is thought to be his daughter Hannah, Reuters reported on Friday.
A pre-dawn storm on Monday caused the 56-meter-long, luxurious sailboat, the British-flagged Bayesian, which was carrying 22 passengers and crew, to capsize and quickly sink as it was anchored off the port of Porticello, close to Palermo.
Hannah Lynch, 18, was the sole person who was still missing, although the source did not identify her body as hers. She was discovered inside the yacht, according to the Italian news outlet Adnkronos.
The wreck is located 50 meters below the surface, and once within, the pathways are small. On Friday, the fire department referred to the rescue efforts as “long and delicate” and stated that over 400 individuals, including 28 specialised divers, were participating.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the bodies of the remaining five deceased passengers—including Lynch—were found inside the yacht. Onboard chef Recaldo Thomas was the lone crew member to pass away; his body was discovered close to the wreckage on Monday.
Autopsies and official identification of the bodies are anticipated to start following the last recovered body’s transfer to a Palermo hospital mortuary.
A judicial probe into the sinking has been launched, confounding naval marine specialists who maintain that a vessel such as the Italian luxury yacht Perini’s Bayesian ought to have weathered the storm.
Police have questioned James Cutfield, the skipper of the boat, and the eight members of his crew who are still alive, but they have not commented publicly. On Saturday, investigating prosecutors are scheduled to conduct a press conference.
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12:47 am today
Body of last missing person found after Sicily superyacht sinking
12:47 am today Share this
By Giselda Vagnoni and Guglielmo Mangiapane, Reuters
Divers from Italy’s fire service have been working to retrieve bodies from the wreck. Photo: AFP
Italian rescue divers have found the body of the last person missing after British tech magnate Mike Lynch’s family yacht sank off Sicily, believed to be his daughter Hannah, a source close to the matter told Reuters on Friday.
The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre-long luxury sail boat carrying 22 passengers and crew, was anchored off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, when it capsized and rapidly sank after being struck by a pre-dawn storm on Monday.
The source did not identify the body as belonging to 18-year-old Hannah Lynch, but she was the only person still unaccounted for. Italian news agency Adnkronos said she was found inside the yacht.
The wreck is lying at a depth of 50 metres and once inside the passageways are narrow. The fire brigade on Friday described rescue operations as “long and delicate”, and said they involved more than 400 people, including 28 specialist divers.
The bodies of the other five dead passengers, including Lynch, were recovered on Wednesday and Thursday from inside the yacht. The body of the only crew member who died, onboard chef Recaldo Thomas, was found near the wreck on Monday.
Official identification of the corpses and autopsies are expected to begin after the transfer of the last recovered body to a hospital morgue in Palermo.
A judicial investigation has been opened into the sinking, which has baffled naval marine experts who say a boat like the Bayesian, built by Italian high-end yacht manufacturer Perini, should have withstood the storm.
The yacht’s captain James Cutfield, his eight surviving crew members and passengers have been questioned by police, but have not made public comments. Investigating prosecutors are due to hold a press conference on Saturday.
The body of UK tycoon Mike Lynch was found earlier this week. Photo: AFP / Pool / Ben Gurr
Complex salvage operation
The CEO of The Italian Sea Group (TISGR.MI), the company that owns Perini, Giovanni Costantino, told Reuters that the shipwreck was caused by a series of “indescribable, unreasonable errors” made by the crew, ruling out any flaws in the construction or design.
Although the procedure is probably going to be difficult and expensive, pulling the ship out of the water, where it is currently laying on its right side and appears intact, might aid investigators in figuring out what happened.
In interviews with Italian media on Friday, South African engineer Nick Sloane, who oversaw the effort to save the 2012-sunk Costa Concordia cruise ship, stated that the procedure could cost as much as 15 million euros (NZ$27.1 million).
Without giving a reason for the late notice, he informed the daily La Repubblica that the rescuing of the boat would require six to eight weeks, including preparatory work, and would need to be finished by mid-October.
It will have to be done “very, very slowly” to raise the yacht to the surface, he said, and it could take many days.
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