Tragic Discovery of Mike Lynch and Four Others in Sunken Italian Yacht

Among the victims feared dead in the tragic sinking of the superyacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily is Mike Lynch, the UK tech entrepreneur, whose wife is the owner of the ill-fated vessel.

The bodies of four out of the six missing passengers have been recovered by divers from the sunken wreckage, although their formal identification by the Italian Coast Guard is pending.

The search operation has concentrated on identifying the individuals onboard, including Lynch, his daughter Hannah, Jonathan Bloomer – the chairman of Morgan Stanley Bank International, his wife Judy Bloomer, and the other passengers.

Initial recovery efforts saw two bodies brought to Porticello harbour on Wednesday afternoon. Later that day, two additional bodies were retrieved before the search was temporarily halted with the onset of nightfall.

The catastrophic sinking of the Bayesian happened early Monday morning, approximately 700 meters off the coast, following adverse weather conditions. The vessel is believed to have been hit by a waterspout, leading to its capsizing and descending 50 meters (164 feet) to the seafloor.

Throughout Wednesday, a continuous flow of boats transported divers to and from the search area, while numerous emergency service personnel lined the small quayside to oversee the return of the bodies by boat. One body bag was observed being loaded into an ambulance, which departed the port under police escort, resonating sirens across the harbor.

Despite media speculations about the identities of the recovered bodies, the Italian authorities have refrained from official identification, awaiting the retrieval of all six bodies before informing the families of the victims.

As per Italian regulations, the deceased must be formally identified by a relative or a close confidant for their demise to be officially acknowledged.

Progress of the Inquiries

In the interim, Salvo Cocina, the head of Sicily’s civil protection agency, affirmed that a thorough investigation would follow but emphasized the current priority of recovering all ship passengers. Thus far, four bodies have been recovered from the water, with an additional body located but pending retrieval. One person is still unaccounted for.

Salvo Cocina confirmed to The Telegraph that he believed Lynch and his daughter had been discovered.

He extended his sympathies on behalf of himself and his colleagues to the families of the victims, offering condolences during this challenging period.

22 Passengers Onboard

American jewelry designer Neda Morvillo and her spouse Chris are also among the missing individuals.

The Bayesian, flying a British flag and measuring 56m in length, was carrying a total of 22 individuals – 10 crew members and 12 passengers at the time of the tragic incident.

Out of the 22, 15 survived the ordeal, including a British mother who recounted holding her infant daughter above the water surface to avert drowning.

The body of the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian-Antiguan national, was recovered on Monday.

Gareth Williams, a close friend of Thomas, shared how they had known each other for three decades, having grown up together in Antigua, where Thomas resided during the yachting offseason.

The passengers, guests of Lynch – the founder of tech giant Autonomy, were reportedly convened to commemorate his exoneration from a significant US fraud case.

Lynch was absolved of numerous fraud charges related to Autonomy’s $11bn (£8.6bn) sale to Hewlett-Packard in 2011.

Ongoing Investigations

Examinations of the yacht’s interior hull were conducted on Wednesday morning, alongside the arrival of a team of four British inspectors from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) at the site in Sicily.

The complex nature of the shipwreck site has presented challenges to the rescue missions.

Italian rescue operations reported impediments faced by the specialist divers due to the Bayesian lying on its side at the seabed, obstructed access points caused by debris accumulation.

Professional diver Andy Goddard, speaking before the bodies’ recovery, described the risky conditions inside the wreck due to minimal light at that depth, likening it to being within a turbulent washing machine.

Continuation of the Search on Thursday

Thursday saw the resumption of searches for the final missing person following the sinking of the superyacht, which carried UK tech mogul Mike Lynch, off the Sicilian coast. Divers successfully retrieved a fifth body from the wreckage.

Specialist divers, utilizing an underwater robot on Wednesday, recovered four bodies from the remains of the “Bayesian,” with an additional recovery made on Thursday morning as reported by AFP correspondents.

Reports from AFP mentioned the rescue of fifteen individuals, including Lynch’s wife and a woman with a one-year-old child.