Divers searching the wreckage of a superyacht that sank off Sicily’s coast on Monday have discovered the bodies of five out of six missing passengers, with four of them now recovered to shore.
According to BBC, while the Italian Coastguard has yet to formally identify the bodies brought up from the wreck of the Bayesian, the search has been focused on locating four Britons and two Americans.
Among those missing are UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, whose wife owns the Bayesian yacht, his daughter Hannah Lynch, and Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley Bank International, along with his wife Judy Bloomer.
The first two bodies were retrieved on Wednesday afternoon and brought ashore at Porticello harbour.
As evening approached, two more bodies were pulled from the water before the search was paused due to nightfall.
The Bayesian sank early Monday, approximately 700 meters off the coast, during an unusual weather event believed to be a waterspout—a tornado over water—which caused the vessel to capsize and sink 50 meters (164 feet) to the seabed.
Throughout Wednesday, boats were seen shuttling divers to and from the search site at Porticello. Dozens of emergency service personnel lined the quayside as the bodies of the missing passengers were returned from the wreck area.
One body bag was observed being placed in an ambulance, followed by sirens as the vehicle, escorted by two police cars, departed the port.
Italian authorities have not yet identified those recovered, despite reports from local and international media speculating on some of their names.
This is likely because officials are waiting until all six bodies have been recovered before notifying the victims’ families.
According to Italian law, the deceased must be formally identified by a family member or a close acquaintance before the deaths can be officially recorded.
Salvatore Cocina, head of Sicily’s civil protection agency, stated earlier that while an investigation will follow, the current priority is locating everyone who was on board the Bayesian vessel.
Among those still missing are Neda Morvillo, an American jewelry designer, and her husband Chris.
The Bayesian, a 56-meter yacht flying a British flag, was carrying 10 crew members and 12 passengers when it sank.
Out of the 22 people aboard, 15 survived, including a British mother who recounted holding her baby girl above the water’s surface to prevent her from drowning.
The yacht’s chef, Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, was found deceased on Monday.
Gareth Williams, a friend of Mr. Thomas, told the BBC that he had known the chef for 30 years, as they grew up together in Antigua, where Mr. Thomas resided during yachting’s off-season.
The passengers were guests of Mr. Lynch, the founder of software giant Autonomy, and were reportedly celebrating his acquittal in a significant U.S. fraud case.
Mr. Lynch had been acquitted in June of multiple fraud charges related to the $11 billion (£8.6 billion) sale of Autonomy to the U.S. computing giant Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
On Wednesday morning, inspections of the yacht’s internal hull were also conducted, while four British inspectors from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch arrived in Sicily at the site.
The depth of the wreckage has presented challenges for the rescue operation. Italian rescue services reported that the team of specialist divers has been hindered by the Bayesian’s position on its side at the seabed, with debris blocking access points.
Before the bodies were recovered, professional diver Andy Goddard described the conditions as “pretty dark” on the wreck, with minimal ambient light at that depth.
“You’re in this space and you’ve got stuff floating all around you, like being in a washing machine. It’s really dangerous for the diver,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
