Divers scouring the wreck of the luxury yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday have reportedly found the bodies of all six missing persons.
The UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, his teenage daughter Hannah Lynch, the Morgan Stanley International chair, Jonathan Bloomer, his wife, Judy, and the Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda, have been missing since the vessel went down Monday morning.
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.
Citing a source, Reuters said four more bodies were found on Wednesday but did not immediately give the names or gender of the victims. Sources among firefighters’ divers later told the Guardian the last two bodies had been found.
Some UK media are reporting that two of the bodies are those of Lynch and his daughter. The Guardian has not been able to independently verify this and there has been no formal confirmation from the authorities.
Body bags were seen being brought into the harbour aboard a fire brigade boat and lifted up on to the quayside.
The search has been challenging for the rescue teams, who have struggled to get to the yacht’s hull. Once they breached the hull further investigation was obstructed by furniture and debris.
Investigators are questioning witnesses and survivors. The yacht’s captain, James Cutfield, 51, 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.
It is understood four inspectors from the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch are in Sicily to do a preliminary assessment.
The former cabinet minister Lord Deben said Lynch, his friend, was at the “beginning of a new life” when his boat capsized in the violent storm off the coast of Sicily. Deben, the former Conservative MP John Gummer, said Lynch had been preparing for a fresh start after being cleared in June of fraud charges in the US relating to the purchase of his company, Autonomy, by Hewlett-Packard in 2011.
Deben told Times Radio: “He came back to be ready to start again. He made such a contribution to Britain. His companies have put British IT in the forefront, and he was going to do it again, and we pray that he can do it again.”
