Updated 00.22 | Published 00.21
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fullscreenMike Lynch was found dead in his cabin on the luxury yacht Bayesian. Photo: Michael Liedtke / AP
They cried for joy and celebrated in the pub after the victory.
Then unlikely tragedy struck.
In 48 hours both were dead in mysterious accidents.
And the connection of IT leaders to the world of espionage receives a lot of attention.
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The 56-metre luxury yacht Bayesian was “lit up like a Christmas tree” as it anchored just off Porticello along the Sicilian coast.
The mast, 75 meters high, stood out against the full moon, according to residents of the town for The New York Times.
At 4 o’clock on Monday morning, disaster struck.
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full screen On Bayesian there were 22 people Photo: Fabio La Bianca / AP
Only pillows left on the surface
A huge storm moved in over the record-warm waters of the Mediterranean. Soon after, the reportedly virtually unsinkable luxury yacht was filled with water.
After a few minutes, only a number of pillows from the ship’s deck bobbed on the surface of the water.
Of 22 on board, seven followed Bayesian into the depths and drowned.
Among them IT billionaire Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter.
For many, the accident is not only tragic. It is also inexplicable.
– It drives me crazy, says Giovanni Costantino, CEO of the group that built Bayesian, to The New York Times.
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full screenStephen Chamberlain was pronounced dead the same day Mike Lynch disappeared into the abyss with Bayesian. Photo: Stephen Chamberlain / Reuters
Unlikely circumstance
– If the correct procedures have been followed, it is unsinkable.
A smaller sailboat along the coast that received the 15 passengers who managed to escape the Bayesian weathered the storm without much trouble.
The mystery also has an additional improbable dimension:
Just 48 hours before the disaster in the Mediterranean, Stephen Chamberlain, 52, was hit by a motorist while out jogging near his home in England.
He was pronounced dead on Monday, the same day Lynch disappeared into the depths.
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full screen Stephen Chamberlain was hit during a jog near his home in England. Photo: Bav Media / Splashnews.Com
Celebrated together
In June, Lynch and Chamberlain celebrated and released together after being released in a multibillion-dollar scandal surrounding the IT company Autonomy, where the former was CEO and the latter vice CEO.
After a San Francisco jury acquitted the duo of a fraud charge that could have meant 20 years in prison, “Britain’s Bill Gates” and his closest man wept and hugged and went to the pub to celebrate, writes The New York Times.
Now both are dead.
Since the deaths became known, the couple’s connections to the international spy world have received a lot of attention.
Their company is said to have had high-ranking employees from the British intelligence service MI5 and the American NSA.
Divers are looking for the missing people. Theory: Water tornado
Italian authorities confirmed on Thursday that Lynch was one of the six dead divers managed to recover from the wreck. The dead were all found in the cabins of the luxury yacht.
The only missing person so far not found is the billionaire’s daughter Hannah.
The investigation will now try to get answers to what caused the luxury yacht’s tragic fate.
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full screen The “unsinkable” luxury yacht Bayesian sank early Monday morning.
According to witnesses, the storm must have moved in with stronger winds than had previously been experienced along that part of the coast, writes The New York Times.
The storm is believed to have been able to create a weather phenomenon known as a waterspout, a violent vortex in the water.
The turmoil surrounding Autonomy began twelve years ago when HP sounded the alarm that the company was only worth a fraction of the multi-billion dollar amount it paid in a takeover, writes TT.
Despite the acquittal in San Francisco, other courts have found that large scale mold took place.
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full screen Boat searches for missing after Bayesian’s sinking. Photo: Guglielmo Mangiapane / Reuters