2024-08-25 03:28:23
Italian prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into suspected manslaughter in connection with the sinking of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily on Monday that killed seven people, including British businessman Mike Lynch.
The prosecutor also stated at Saturday’s press conference that he has not yet charged a specific person with a crime and that the ship’s captain and crew can leave Sicily.
The prosecutor of the city of Termini Imerese, which lies in the Palermo metropolitan area, Ambrogio Cartosio told reporters that charges could be brought against one or more people, stressing that the investigation was at an early stage.
“We are evaluating who is responsible for what happened. Whether the captain, the entire crew or the builders of the ship,” said Cartosio. He added that the captain and crew did not have to stay in Sicily for the duration of the investigation, but told them to be available for further questioning. Captain James Cutfield, who comes from New Zealand, is already being re-examined by the prosecution.
The search for the daughter of British technology entrepreneur Lynch continues. Paramedics are retrieving what is believed to be the body of his daughter, Hannah Lynch. | Photo: Reuters
The first question asked by journalists at the press conference, according to the BBC, was how it was possible that most of the crew managed to get into the lifeboat before the yacht sank, while a large part of the passengers remained on the yacht. According to the deputy prosecutor, it is very likely that the passengers were asleep at the time of the accident, which happened very quickly. The Italian media had previously written that the yacht sank within a quarter of an hour.
The Bayesian superyacht, 56 meters long, sailed under the British flag and belonged to businessman Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares, who, unlike her husband and daughter Hannah, survived the accident.
The yacht sank early Monday morning off the town of Porticello, near Palermo. On the same day, the body of cook Recaldo Thomas, who was cooking on the yacht, was found, six more bodies were picked up by rescuers in the following days. There were 22 people on board, of which 15 were saved.
Downdraft of wind
Cartosio described the sinking of the yacht as a sudden and unpredictable event. “The sailboat was hit by a downburst,” he declared. In meteorology, this English name refers to a strong downdraft of wind that occurs during thunderstorms.
Raffaele Macauda, commander of the Maritime Administration in Palermo, said no storm warning had been issued on Monday night. This contradicted previous statements by Giovanni Costantino, the head of The Italian Sea Group, which built the ship, who claimed that strong storms were expected in the area.
The yacht sank to a depth of 50 meters and came to rest on its starboard side, the press conference said. The bodies of the victims were found on the port side; according to investigators, people apparently took refuge there from the advancing water. The owner of the boat, which is the company of Lynch’s wife Angela Baracas, has already indicated that it intends to pick up the wreck, Macauda said. According to him, fuel is not leaking from the ship.
Fifty-nine-year-old Lynch was one of the well-known British businessmen. On the yacht, according to some media, he was celebrating the fact that he was acquitted by a US court in a fraud case that dragged on for several years and in which he was threatened with prison. In addition to Lynch, his lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife and the manager of the American bank Morgan Stanley International Jonathan Bloomer also died in the accident.
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