The bodies of four people who disappeared in the sinking of the sailing ship “Bayesian” in Sicily were found this Wednesday, August 21 after three days of searching. The death toll therefore stands at five and two people are still missing.
The death toll from the sinking of a sailboat off the coast of Palermo, Sicily, is rising. The bodies of four people were found inside the wreck of the yacht on Wednesday, August 21, three days after the sinking, reports BBC. The death toll now stands at five people and two other occupants of the boat are still being sought. The search continues at sea, but the chances of finding the occupants of the sailboat “Bayesian” are diminishing as the hours pass and the discoveries of the day leave little hope as to the chances of finding the last missing people alive.
It was around 5am on Monday 19th August when the 56-metre British-flagged sailing yacht “Bayesian” sank after being hit by a waterspout, a highly dangerous weather phenomenon characterised by a rotating column of air and water. Twelve passengers and ten crew members were on board, most of them British. While fifteen of them were found safe and sound, all seven were reported missing. Five of the missing persons were found in the wreck at a depth of 50 metres.
Who are Mike Lynch and the other wanted persons?
British tech mogul Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah are among those missing from the luxury yacht. The owner of the sunken boat, nicknamed the “British Bill Gates,” had organized a cruise aboard his superyacht to celebrate with his family, several of his employees and his lawyers, a party after being acquitted in a fraud case in the United States. Thus, among the others still wanted are Chris Morvillo, the partner lawyer at the law firm Clifford Chance and his wife, as well as Jonathan Bloomer, the chairman of the board of directors of Morgan Stanley International and his wife.
The search operations carried out by firefighters since the shipwreck are perilous. Firefighters trained in deep-sea diving from Rome and Sardinia are also mobilized on site to assist local rescue services and try to find the bodies of the four remaining missing persons, probably trapped inside the wreck. Intact and on its right side, access to it is made difficult due to “the presence of furniture obstructing the entrance”, the firefighters indicated on X (ex-Twitter).
The heavy swell observed off the coast of Sicily further complicates the operations. Grouped together in a hotel, the survivors have the opportunity to meet psychologists made available to them.
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17:40 – Research aided by remote-controlled underwater drones
The search for the site of the wreck of the sailboat is being carried out by experienced divers, but they are being aided by technical means such as remote-controlled underwater drones called “remotely operated underwater vehicles” or ROVs. These robots used by the Sicilian coastguard can stay underwater for up to six or seven hours and dive to depths of 300 metres. They are equipped with cameras that allow divers to detect the presence of people or bodies in and around the wreck, in more difficult to access corners.
17:23 – Death toll rises to five after discovery of new bodies
After the discovery of two bodies earlier in the afternoon, two more missing people have been found inside the wreck of the sailboat, at a depth of 50 meters, reports the BBC, citing the Sicilian civil protection agency. The bodies of the third and fourth victims found this Wednesday are still in the hull of the boat, while those of the first two have been brought to shore. The identities of the victims are still not specified.
16:29 – Who are the people missing after the sailboat sank?
Six people were missing on Wednesday morning before the discovery of two bodies. Italian authorities have not specified the identities of those found, but here are the names of the six people wanted, reported by the BBC, including those of two victims who were found.
- British businessman Mike Lynch, who helped found Cambridge Neurodynamics and co-founded the company Autonomy
- His daughter Hannah Lynch, an 18-year-old student
- Joanthan Bloomer, Chairman of Morgan Stanley Bank International
- His wife Judy Bloomer
- Chris Morvillo, partner at law firm Clifford Chance
- His wife Neda Morvillo, a jewelry designer
The yacht’s chef, Canadian national Recaldo Thomas from Antigua, was found on Monday. He was the seventh person reported missing after the sinking.
16:20 – Two bodies found in the wreck of the sailboat
The bodies of two people have been found inside the “Bayesian”, the luxury yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday morning, Reuters news agency and Italian media reported on Wednesday, August 21. The identities of the two people found have not yet been released.