Hannah Lynch, the eighteen-year-old daughter of tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, was found alone in her cabin aboard the super-yacht Bayesian after it sank 50 meters beneath the surface of the Mediterranean, rescuers reported. Five other people, including her father, were found in a separate compartment on the super yacht Bayesian, the firefighter commander Girolamo Bentivoglio Fiandra told reporters during a news conference in Termini Imerese, near the sinking site off Sicily.
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The ship, valued at £30 million, tilted to one side as it sank – and Fiandra said it became clear to divers that the disaster victims had sought refuge in the upper part of the vessel, where there may have been air bubbles, before dying.
Divers diving at the site where the Bayesian sank
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Hannah Lynch on board with mom and dad
Hannah was on the ship with her father and mother, along with other prominent businessmen and their wives, when the ship was hit by a suspected downburst – a violent downward gust of wind – in the early hours of Monday.
Their bodies were recovered over the course of this week, bringing the death toll from the disaster to seven, after the ship’s cook was found in the water near the site of the shipwreck shortly after the disaster occurred. Autopsies have yet to be performed.
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An investigation has been launched for involuntary manslaughter, and chief prosecutor Raffaele Cammarano stated that authorities are trying to perform alcohol and drug testing on the survivors, adding that they will be interviewed to determine exactly why seven lives were lost. “We will find out how much they knew or to what extent all the people were warned,” he promised.
It is believed that the Bayesian sank at the stern after being struck by a downburst that spread with force as it hit the ground after being produced in the clouds, before tipping on its right side as it capsized.
The fire chief Fiandra stated in comments reported by Sky News: “Perhaps you would like to know where we recovered the bodies of the victims. I can tell you that the ship sank and rested on its right side on the seabed. “It’s quite clear that people were trying to hide in the cabins on the left side and we found the first five bodies in the first cabin on the left side and the last body in the third cabin on the left side. There were six cabins: three on the left side and three on the right side. We found them in the uppermost part of the ship, towards the surface.”
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Five victims in the same room
So far investigators have refused to comment on why five of the victims were found in the same room. Committee members stated that the cabin in which they were found was not theirs.
Prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio confirmed that, following the initial investigations into the sinking on Monday, August 19, the issue of “incidental shipwreck and multiple involuntary manslaughter” has been raised.
However, he emphasized to reporters that the investigations are still at an early stage – but hinted that there are questions the crew of the Bayesian must answer.
One person was on watch in the cockpit when the disaster occurred. They have been questioned and are not required to remain in Italy, but authorities say they expect full cooperation in the investigation.
The yacht’s captain, James Cutfield, has already been questioned by investigators. Prosecutors say they will examine why the crew managed to reach a lifeboat when the passengers did not.
Cammarano told the press that Cutfield has been “extremely cooperative” thus far. He is likely to be questioned again.
The prosecutor added: “There are various stages that we need to examine in more detail: the crew’s behaviors, the weather situation, what the weather was doing at that time, all aspects that we need to consider.
“The crew’s statements are crucial concerning the inquiry. We cannot disclose what they said as it would be very prejudicial to the investigation.”
Cartosio later added: “We cannot simply resolve this issue quickly. It is likely that crimes have been committed, that it could be involuntary manslaughter, but it is a matter of determining who is responsible and we can only do that if we are given time.”
Prosecutors say they want to recover the Bayesian from the water so that the wreck can be examined, but the responsibility for this task lies with the ship’s owners.
Bayesian, what happened
The 185-foot superyacht, flying the British flag, sank in the early hours of Monday after, according to investigators, it was hit by a downburst, a violent downward gust of wind often mistaken for a tornado and commonly created during thunderstorms. Emergency services were alerted shortly after 4:30 AM but by the time they arrived, the ship had already sunk. The time taken by rescuers to reach the wreck will also be part of the investigation, although authorities stated today that the sinking was extremely rapid. The crew of a nearby Dutch sailing vessel, the Sir Robert BP, managed to send a liferaft to rescue 15 of the 22 people on board. Among the survivors were British woman Charlotte Golunski and her one-year-old daughter, whom she held up in the water.
Hannah and her father Mike Lynch, along with Morgan Stanley International Bank President Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy Bloomer, Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo, and his wife Neda Morvillo, died when the yacht sank around 5:00 AM local time on Monday. The body of Canadian-Antiguan citizen Recaldo Thomas, who worked as a chef on the superyacht, was recovered at the sinking site on Monday. Their bodies were taken to the nearby village of Porticello, about 18 kilometers from the Sicilian capital of Palermo. Italian Coast Guard Rear Admiral Raffaele Macauda confirmed that Thomas’s body was found near the ship. Fiandra, the fire chief, added that it took time to find the other bodies due to the complexities in reaching a ship 50 meters deep, the size of the yacht itself, and the lack of visibility so far from the surface.
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