PALERMO — Rescue teams in Sicily in Italy resumed a search for six missing people, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter, after a luxury yacht was struck by a violent storm and sank on Monday, killing one on board, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
The British-flagged "Bayesian," a 56-metre-long (184-ft) sailboat was carrying 22 people and was anchored just off the port of Porticello when it was hit by ferocious weather.
Prominent Figures Among the Missing
Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at Clifford Chance who represented Mike Lynch in a U.S. trial, were among the missing.
The wives of both men were also unaccounted for, said Salvatore Cocina, head of civil protection in Sicily.
Prosecutors in the nearby town of Termini Imerese have opened an investigation into the incident.
Rescue Efforts and Challenges
Specialist divers had reached the ship on Monday at a depth of some 50 metres, but access was limited due to objects in the way, the fire brigade said.
Fifteen people had escaped before the boat went down, including Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, who owned the boat, and a one-year-old girl.
On Monday, rescue teams recovered the body of the yacht's onboard chef, identified as Antiguan citizen Ricardo Thomas.
The British government's Marine Accident Investigation Branch said four inspectors had been sent to Sicily to conduct a "preliminary assessment."
One expert at the scene of the disaster who declined to be named said an early focus of the investigation would be whether the yacht's crew had had time to close access hatches into the vessel before the storm struck.
As WAM reported on Monday, fifteen people were rescued initially and taken to shore at Porticello, where eight were in the hospital.
