Published August 22, 2024, 11:21
SicilyThe last body recovered from the yacht wreck is that of Mike Lynch
Of the six people reported missing after the sinking of the “Bayesian,” only one person remains to be searched for by divers.
The last body recovered from the yacht wreck is that of Mike Lynch.
AFP
Divers recovered the body of the last missing man on Thursday morning following the sinking on Monday off Sicily of the super yacht owned by British tech magnate Mike Lynch, the coast guard told AFP, confirming his death.
A total of three men and three women had been reported missing since Monday morning and the sinking of the “Bayesian” off the Italian island. Only the body of one woman now remains in the wreck, with five bodies having been recovered since Wednesday, according to the same source.
Specialized divers working with an underwater robot recovered four bodies from the wreck of the sailboat on Wednesday, which now lies 50 meters deep, 700 meters from the port of Porticello. Another body was recovered on Thursday morning, journalists from AFP observed.
These five bodies bring the death toll to six, as a crew member was found dead on Monday.
One woman is still being searched for, though it is not clear which one, pending the official identification of the bodies.
A source close to the investigation indicated that the bodies of Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah were not among the first four recovered. Therefore, the last victim in the wreck should be Hannah.
Mike Lynch, a wealthy businessman known as the “British Bill Gates,” was celebrating with friends, colleagues and lawyers his acquittal in June in a fraud trial in the United States that could have cost him many years in prison.
In addition to Mike Lynch and his daughter, the other four people who had been reported missing since Monday included Jonathan Bloomer, the chairman of Morgan Stanley International’s board – a branch of the American bank – and his wife, as well as Chris Morvillo, a lawyer who defended Mike Lynch in his trial in the U.S., along with his wife.
The ship sank within minutes after a tornado struck on Monday morning.
Fifteen people were rescued. Among the six passengers rescued were a mother and her one-year-old daughter.
Initial witnesses reported that the 75-meter mast had broken, but information available on Wednesday seemed to indicate that this was not the case.
The speed at which the yacht sank and the fact that other boats around it were not affected raise questions, especially regarding whether the ballasted keel, which counterbalances the imposing mast, was lowered or raised at the time of the storm.
The head of The Italian Sea Group, owner of the Perini Navi shipyard that built the Bayesian, is furious and points to human error.
“Everything that happened reveals a long series of mistakes. Passengers should not have been in the cabins, the ship should not have been at anchor,” Giovanni Costantino said in an interview on Thursday with Corriere della Sera.
“Look, a Perini ship withstood Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the United States in 2005,” he said.
“Does it look like it couldn’t withstand a local squall? It is customary, when the ship is at anchor, to have a lookout on deck and, if he was there, he must have seen the storm coming,” Mr. Costantino continues.
“Instead, the yacht took on water while guests were still in their cabins. An angle of 40 degrees is enough for those in a cabin to find the door above them: can you imagine a 60- to 70-year-old man climbing to get out?” asked the head of the shipbuilder.
“They fell into a trap; these poor people ended up like mice,” concluded Mr. Costantino.
(afp)