The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch said they were being deployed to Sicily’s waters for a preliminary assessment of the sinking of Mike Lynch’s yacht, while cave divers have joined the search for the missing.
An unexpected violent storm sank the British-flagged “Bayesian” near the port of Porticello in the early hours of Monday.
At least one person has been confirmed dead and six are missing from the yacht carrying 22 people. The others were rescued by a passing sailboat.
Salvatore Cocina, head of the civil protection agency in Sicily, said Morgan Stanley’s Jonathan Bloomer and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at British law firm Clifford Chance who had been representing Mr Lynch, were among the missing.
Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, was one of the 15 people rescued. Eight survivors were taken to hospital, including a one-year-old baby.
Mr Lynch had reportedly invited his lawyers and friends to celebrate a recent legal victory that cleared him of fraud accusations in the US.
Have you been affected by this story? Email rachel.hagan@independent.co.uk
Key Points
- Morgan Stanley’s chair Jonathan Bloomer confirmed among six missing
- Bayesian owner Mike Lynch is among missing while British tech mogul's wife among rescued
- Captain speaks for first time from hospital bed with just five words
- Jonathan Bloomer’s wife among the missing
- Yacht guests were ‘Lynch’s lawyers celebrating his legal victory’
Family of Stephen Chamberlain pay tribute to ‘much-loved husband, father, son, brother and friend'
10:10
Rachel Hagan
The family of Stephen Chamberlain, who was not on the yacht but was the co-defendant in Mike Lynch’s trial, have described him as “a much-loved husband, father, son, brother and friend”.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary confirmed that Mr Chamberlain was killed on Saturday after being hit by a car while out running in Cambridgeshire.
His family released a tribute to the 52-year-old via the police force, saying: “Steve was a much-loved husband, father, son, brother and friend. He was an amazing individual whose only goal in life was to help others in any way possible. He made a lasting impression on everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. He will be deeply missed but forever in the hearts of his loved ones.”
Captain speaks for first time from hospital bed with just five words
09:47
Rachel Hagan
James Catfield, the captain of the yacht who is recovering at the Termini Imerese hospital has spoken to Italian media for the first time.
La Repubblica quotes just one sentence from Mr Catfield: “We didn’t see it coming.”
Jonathan Bloomer’s wife among the missing
09:25
Rachel Hagan
Tribute has been paid to Jonathan Bloomer, who is believed to be among the missing, from the insurer Hiscox that Mr Bloomer chairs.
Its CEO has confirmed that Bloomer and his wife Judy are among those still missing this morning.
Aki Hussain, Group Chief Executive Officer, Hiscox, said in a statement to The Independent: “We are deeply shocked and saddened by this tragic event. Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular our Chair, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy, who are among the missing, and with their family as they await further news from this terrible situation.”
Yacht ‘practically intact’ on seabed, says diver
09:11
Rachel Hagan
The luxury superyacht is “practically intact” on the seabed despite sinking, Marco Tilotta, a firefighter diver from Palermo, has told Italian newspaper Il Messaggero.
He said in an interview that the £30 million yacht was lying on its side at a depth of 48 metres, but that divers were unable to gain access because of floating furnishings and other debris inside the yacht.
He said: “When we went down to the water around 5:30 a.m., we found a yacht that was practically intact. It is resting on its side on the starboard side. It has no gashes, no signs of impact.’’
Marine Accident Investigation Branch send four British inspectors to examine wreck
09:04
Barney Davis
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch said four inspectors had been sent to Sicily to conduct a “preliminary assessment,” Reuters reported.
One expert at the scene 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.
Captain describes lifting baby out of water as search continues for missing six
08:45
Barney Davis
The nearby captain of a Dutch-flagged vessel told the Reuters news agency that when the winds surged, he used the engine to keep his boat upright and avoid a collision with the Bayesian, which had been anchored alongside him.
“We managed to keep the ship in position and after the storm was over, we noticed that the ship behind us was gone,” Karsten Borner told journalists.
The other boat “went flat on the water, and then down”, he added.
He said his crew then found some of the survivors on a life raft - including a baby girl and her mother - and took them on board before the coast guard picked them up.
He added: “I think they are inside, all the missing people.”
One of the survivors, British tourist Charlotte Emsley, told la Republica: “I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning.
The daily Il Giornale di Sicilia newspaper reported that the vessel had mostly British passengers on board, but also people from New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ireland and British-French citizens.
Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley International and Chris Morvillo, a lawyer at Clifford Chance who represented Lynch in a long-standing trial in the U.S., were among the missing.
The wives of both men were also unaccounted for, said Salvatore Cocina, head of Civil Protection in Sicily.
‘God on our side’ Gemma Collins describes horror storm that capsized Bayesian
08:32
Barney Davis
Reality star Gemma Collins has revealed that she and her nephew were “lucky to have survived” in a small boat rocked by the same horror storm that capsized Mike Lynch’s yacht off the coast of Sicily.
Mike Lynch, dubbed as Britain’s Bill Gates, is still missing presumed dead alongside his daughter, Hannah, 18, who had just completed her A-levels and was to read English at Oxford.
The Only Way is Essex star reassured her followers that she and 15-year-old nephew Hayden were both fine with an Instagram post featuring her posing on a yacht in the Mediterranean.
She wrote: “Holiday update. My heartfelt condolences to the people and families involved in the tragic disaster at sea in Sicily.”
“I was very lucky me and my nephew to have survived the storm at sea. I am shaken and returning to the UK tomorrow, god was on our side today. We was stuck for 4 hours can you imagine what was going through my mind. Thank you @bluediamondcruise for getting us back safely.”
Tragic final LinkedIn post from top lawyer still missing from superyacht
08:15
Barney Davis
Still missing is Christopher Morvillo, a top lawyer who has worked on high-profile corruption cases, including Mike Lynch’s recent trial.
The lawyer at the US branch of Clifford Chance and his wife Neda have not been seen since the Bayesian foundered off Palermo Monday morning after being caught in bad weather.
He also worked on the criminal investigation surrounding the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, as an assistant US attorney for the southern district of New York from 1999 to 2005.
In a tragic final LinkedIn post Mr Morvillo thanked all the legal minds that had helped Mr Lynch win the fraud trial in June after a mammoth 10-year court battle.Signing off, he said: “And, finally, a huge thank you to my patient and incredible wife, Neda Morvillo, and my two strong, brilliant, and beautiful daughters, Sabrina Morvillo and Sophia Morvillo. None of this would have been possible without your love and support. I am so glad to be home. “And they all lived happily ever after….”
Missing British tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s co-defendant in US fraud trial dies in car crash
08:00
Jabed Ahmed
Hunt continues for Lynch and colleagues invited on yacht to celebrate 10-year legal victory
07:51
Barney Davis
Mike Lynch, the 59-year-old entrepreneur, dubbed The UK’s Bill Gates, is still missing and presumed dead along with his daughter, Hannah, 18, after his superyacht capsized off the coast of Italy.
He had invited colleagues aboard the Bayesian to celebrate his victory in a decade-long US fraud trial which ended in June.
Jonathan Bloomer, 70, chairman of Morgan Stanley International, was also missing alongside his wife Anne and two others.
Yesterday divers recovered the body of the yacht’s cook, while 15 people including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, were rescued.
Also missing is Chris Morvillo, an attorney at British law firm Clifford Chance, The Times reported last night.
Ayla Reynold, a New Zealand national working at Clifford Chance, survived the ordeal. Her father Lin Ronald confirmed to the Telegraph she had been invited aboard as thanks for assistance in Mr Lynch’s recent court case.
“I have texted my daughter and she hasn’t given me any updates about missing personnel or saved personnel. She has only said that there are deaths and she and her partner are alive,” he said.
British mother rescues her baby from waters after superyacht capsizes off Italian coast
07:30
Jabed Ahmed
Pictures as search continues for wreck of Bayesian lying 50m underwater
07:25
Barney Davis
A fishing boat sails past a coast guard vessel operating in the sea to search for British technology tycoon Mike Lynch, his daughter and others will resume today after a luxury yacht sank in a tornado off the coast of Sicily.
Mr Lynch and his daughter Hannah are among six tourists missing after the yacht, named Bayesian, was battered during intense storms off the coast of Palermo in the early hours of Monday.
Italy’s fire brigade calls inspections of wreck ‘unsuccessful’
06:55
Shweta Sharma
Italy’s fire brigade Vigili del Fuoco said in its latest update that early inspections of the wreck by cave divers were “unsuccessful”.
This was due to limited access to the bridge and furniture obstructing passages, it said.
The wreckage of the super yacht is lying on the seabed at a depth of 50m after it capsized near the Sicilian capital Palermo.
#Palermo, naufragio imbarcazione a Porticello: proseguono da parte dei #vigilidelfuoco le ricerche delle 6 persone segnalate come disperse. Giunti da Cagliari, Sassari e Roma i #sommozzatori speleo [#19agosto 19:30] pic.twitter.com/7WY30ckxcK
— Vigili del Fuoco (@vigilidelfuoco) August 19, 2024
CCTV shows intensity of storm which capsized superyacht off Italy coast
06:49
Shweta Sharma
Fisherman who witnessed storm says they were first to arrive for rescue
06:47
Shweta Sharma
Fabio Cefalu, a fisherman who witnessed the freak storm, told Italian media he stayed on site for several hours as the sailboat capsized.
“After 10 minutes we saw a flare in the sky, we waited about 10 minutes to see the intensity of the tornado and we went out to sea,” he said.
“We were first to give rescue but we found no one at sea, we only found cushions and the remains of the boat.”
Pictured: Rescue teams search through the night
06:30
Athena Stavrou
Sicily Bayesian sinking mapped: Everything we know about Mike Lynch, the superyacht and missing Britons
06:25
Shweta Sharma
One man has died and six people are missing after a luxury yacht was struck by an unexpectedly violent storm and sank off the Sicilian capital Palermo.
The 50-metre boat, named Bayesian, had 22 people on board when it sank in the early hours of Monday, with four Britons among the seven missing, according to local media.
The yacht sank as a fierce storm battered the area overnight, and was flying a British flag, according to ship-tracking site Marine Traffic.
Read our detailed report here.
Search for British tech magnate and others to resume today
06:15
Shweta Sharma
The search for British technology tycoon Mike Lynch, his daughter and others will resume today after a luxury yacht sank in a tornado off the coast of Sicily.
Mr Lynch and his daughter Hannah are among six tourists missing after the yacht, named Bayesian, was battered during intense storms off the coast of Palermo in the early hours of Monday.
The BBC reported searches are due to resume later on Tuesday morning.
Italy’s fire brigade Vigili del Fuoco said on X that early inspections of the wreck were “unsuccessful” due to limited access to the bridge and furniture obstructing passages.
A body, believed to be that of the vessel’s cook, has been discovered.
Four of the missing passengers are British and two are American, Italian news website la Repubblica stated.
Among those confirmed so far are Morgan Stanley International chair Jonathan Bloomer and Chris Morvillo, an attorney at British law firm Clifford Chance.
Ayla Reynold, a New Zealand national working at Clifford Chance, survived the ordeal. Her father Lin Ronald confirmed to the Telegraph she had been invited aboard as thanks for assistance in Mr Lynch’s recent court case.
“I have texted my daughter and she hasn’t given me any updates about missing personnel or saved personnel. She has only said that there are deaths and she and her partner are alive,” he said.
“Ayla is a lawyer who is part of the legal team that were invited to go sailing as a result of the success in the recent United States court case.”
What do we know about the survivors?
05:51
Jabed Ahmed
15 people are believed to have been rescued from a British-flagged luxury superyacht that sank in bad weather off the coast of Sicily in the early hours of the morning.
22 people are believed to have been on board, including the owner of the boat British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, who is missing.
Of the 15 people, eight are believed to have been taken to hospital to treat injuries.
Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, is one of the 15 rescued.
Other survivors have been confirmed as Charlotte and James Emsley and their one-year-old daughter Sofia. They are all being treated in hospital.
“I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning,” Charlotte told local media. “It was all dark. In the water I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others.”
UK Foreign Office statement
04:56
Jabed Ahmed
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it is supporting “a number of British nationals and their families” after a luxury yacht sunk off the coast of Sicily.
“We are providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families following an incident in Sicily, and are in contact with the local authorities,” an FCDO spokesperson said in a statement.
Morgan Stanley’s chair Jonathan Bloomer confirmed among six missing
04:50
Shweta Sharma
Morgan Stanley International chair Jonathan Bloomer has been identified as one of the six missing people after a super yacht capsized off the coast of Sicily during a storm, an Italian official said.
The others missing from the sailboat Bayesian include British tech tycoon Mike Lynch and his daughter, as well as Chris Morvillo, an attorney at British law firm Clifford Chance which represented Lynch in a massive fraud case, said Salvatore Cocina, head of the civil protection agency in Sicily.
Mr Bloomer was reportedly a close friend of Lynch.
The trip had been organised by Lynch for his work colleagues, according to reports, after he was cleared of all charges of fraud after being accused of inflating the value of his company when selling it to US tech giant Hewlett-Packard (HP).
He was extradited to the US last May for a trial that acquitted him on all 15 counts over the $11bn (£8.64 bn) purchase of his company.
Photos: Search and rescue operation continues through the night
04:31
Shweta Sharma
The search operation continued overnight to find the six people missing after a luxury yacht capsized off the Italian island of Sicily in the early hours of Monday morning.
The coast guard said divers were inspecting the wreck of the Bayesian, which was lying at a depth of 49 metres.
After the accident, a Dutch-flagged vessel near the yacht rescued survivors from the waves, tending to them until emergency services arrived.
The Italian fire brigade reported that its divers had reached the yacht’s hull. Additionally, the brigade deployed helicopters to support the search operation.
British survivor says she held her one-year-old daughter to stay afloat
04:07
Shweta Sharma
One of the survivors, British tourist Charlotte Golunski, told la Repubblica she held her one-year-old daughter, Sofia, to stop her from drowning as the yacht capsized.
She, her daughter and her husband were among the 15 people who had been rescued from the luxury yacht Bayesian early on Monday.
“For two seconds I lost my daughter in the sea then quickly hugged her amid the fury of the waves,” she told the paper.
She said: “I held her afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning.
“It was all dark. In the water I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others.”
“Luckily the lifeboat inflated and 11 of us managed to get on board.”
Charlotte and Sofia are being treated in hospital, as is Sofia’s father.
Where did the yacht sink?
03:49
Jabed Ahmed
The luxury yacht sunk off the coast of Palermo, Sicily.
The 56-metre long sailboat sank with 22 people on board shortly before sunrise, the Italian coast guard said in a statement.
“The wind was very strong. Bad weather was expected, but not of this magnitude,” a coast guard official in Palermo told Reuters.
Storms and heavy rainfall have swept down Italy in recent days - with floods and landslides causing major damage in the north of the country - after weeks of scorching heat.
The boat left the Sicilian port of Milazzo on 14 August and was last tracked east of Palermo on Sunday evening, with a navigation status of “at anchor”, according to vessel tracking app Vesselfinder.
Who is Mike Lynch, the billionaire tech entrepreneur missing after sailing yacht Bayesian sinks in Italy
02:51
Jabed Ahmed
Sicily Bayesian sinking mapped: Everything we know about Mike Lynch, the superyacht and missing Britons
01:58
Jabed Ahmed
Global warming may be factor in deadly Italian shipwreck
Tuesday 20 August 2024 00:47
Jabed Ahmed
Global warming may have contributed to the freak storm that sank a luxury British-flagged yacht off the coast of Sicily, a climatologist has said.
Luca Mercalli, president of the Italian meteorological society, said the episode could have been a water spout, essentially a tornado over water, or else a downburst, a more frequent phenomenon that doesn’t involve the rotation of the air.
“We don’t know which it was because it all happened in the dark in the early hours of the morning, so we have no photographs,” he told news agency Reuters.
In Italy water spouts can involve winds of up to 200 kilometres (124 miles) per hour, while downbursts can produce gusts of around 150 km per hour.
Statistics show that downbursts are becoming more frequent around the country, which Mercalli said may be connected to global warming.
Storms and heavy rainfall have swept down Italy in recent days after weeks of scorching heat.
“The sea surface temperature around Sicily was around 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), which is almost 3 degrees more than normal. This creates an enormous source of energy that contributes to these storms,” Mercalli said.
“So we can’t say that this is all due to climate change, but we can say that it has an amplifying effect.”
Yacht guests were ‘Lynch’s lawyers celebrating his acquittal’
Tuesday 20 August 2024 00:05
Jabed Ahmed
Some guests on board Mike Lynch’s yacht as it sunk were reportedly his from his legal team - invited there to celebrate the tech tycoon’s recent acquittal.
The 59-year-old’s superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday morning with 22 people - ten crew members and 12 guests - on board.
Mike and his daughter, Hannah, 18, are amongst the six people still missing as one person has been confirmed dead and 15 were rescued.
According to the Telegraph, Mr Lynch had invited his legal team from Clifford Chance to celebrate his legal victory, in which he was cleared of all charges of fraud after being accused of inflating the value of his company after selling it to US tech giant Hewlett-Packard (HP).
The father of one of the survivors of the tragedy said she was a Clifford Chance lawyer who said that the trip had been a celebration.
He told the paper: “I have texted with my daughter and she hasn’t given me any updates about missing personnel or saved personnel. She has only said to me that there are deaths, and she and her partner are alive.”
Pictured: Rescue teams search through the night
Monday 19 August 2024 23:00
Athena Stavrou
Mapped: the path of the Bayesian yacht before it sunk
Monday 19 August 2024 22:20
Athena Stavrou
Canadian foreign office in contact with Italian authorities
Monday 19 August 2024 21:52
Jabed Ahmed
Canada’s foreign ministry has confirmed it is in contact with local authorities in Sicily amid reports Canadians were onboard the Bayesian when it sunk.
A spokesperson told the BBC they are “aware of reports that a Canadian citizen has died”.
Italian authorities have not formally confirmed the nationality of the one person whose body has been recovered.
Full report: British tycoon Mike Lynch and daughter among missing at sea with one dead after yacht sinks in Italy
Monday 19 August 2024 21:30
Jabed Ahmed
Missing British tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s co-defendant in US fraud trial dies in car crash
Monday 19 August 2024 21:05
Athena Stavrou
The co-defendant of British tech tycoon Mike Lynch in a US fraud trial died in a car crash days before the businessman went missing after the sinking of his yacht off the coast of Sicily.
Stephen Chamberlain, Autonomy’s former vice president of finance alongside chief executive Mr Lynch, was killed after being hit by a vehcile while out running on Saturday, his lawyer, Gary Lincenberg said.
Less than 48 hours later, Mr Lynch was among six tourists who went missing after a luxury yacht sank in a tornado off the coast of Sicily early on Monday.
In a statement, Mr Lincenberg said: “Our dear client and friend Steve Chamberlain was fatally struck by a car on Saturday while out running.
“He was a courageous man with unparalleled integrity. We deeply miss him. Steve fought successfully to clear his good name at trial earlier this year, and his good name now lives on through his wonderful family.
Former crew member says missing employees ‘well known’ across industry
Monday 19 August 2024 20:40
Athena Stavrou
A former crew member of the Bayesian has said those working on the boat as it sank in the early hours of Monday morning were “well known and liked”.
The yachtsman, who worked on the boat several years ago told Sky News it’s a “well respected boat and well known in the industry, especially on the Mediterranean and Caribbean circuits”.
He said: “The weather around Sicily can be slightly unpredictable but this does seem to have been an unusually large freak storm.
“The missing crew members are missing crew members are well known and liked across the industry.
“We have been nervously waiting for updates since this morning. My thoughts are with all involved during this awful moment.”
Yacht guests were ‘Lynch’s lawyers celebrating his acquittal’
Monday 19 August 2024 20:19
Athena Stavrou
Some guests on board Mike Lynch’s yacht as it sunk were reportedly his from his legal team - invited there to celebrate the tech tycoon’s recent acquittal.
The 59-year-old’s superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily in the early hours of Monday morning with 22 people - ten crew members and 12 guests - on board.
Mike and his daughter, Hannah, 18, are amongst the six people still missing as one person has been confirmed dead and 15 were rescued.
According to the Telegraph, Mr Lynch had invited his legal team from Clifford Chance to celebrate his legal victory, in which he was cleared of all charges of fraud after being accused of inflating the value of his company after selling it to US tech giant Hewlett-Packard (HP).
The father of one of the survivors of the tragedy said she was a Clifford Chance lawyer who said that the trip had been a celebration.
He told the paper: “I have texted with my daughter and she hasn’t given me any updates about missing personnel or saved personnel. She has only said to me that there are deaths, and she and her partner are alive.”
UK sending team to investigate tragedy
Monday 19 August 2024 19:55
Athena Stavrou
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch said four of its inspectors were being deployed to Palermo following the sinking of the Bayesian yacht.
A basic assessment of the scene will be made by the team with no investigation launched at this stage, the PA news agency understands.
Witness says crew must have been ‘surprised’ by storm
Monday 19 August 2024 19:43
Athena Stavrou
A man who saw the sinking of Mike Lynch’s superyacht unfold said they must have been “surprised” by the storm that hit.
“At around 4:30 in the morning it was gone. A beautiful vessel where there had been a party. A normal holiday day spent happily at sea turned into a tragedy,” a witness told Italian news agency ANSA.
He continued: “The vessel was not far from the port. It would have taken very little to raise the anchor and head for the port. Evidently they were surprised by the storm that suddenly hit and they were unable to avoid the sinking.”
Global warming may be factor in deadly Italian shipwreck,
Monday 19 August 2024 19:18
Athena Stavrou
Global warming may have contributed to the freak storm that sank a luxury British-flagged yacht off the coast of Sicily on Monday, an Italian climatologist has said.
Luca Mercalli, president of the Italian meteorological society, said the episode that led to the tragedy could have been a water spout, essentially a tornado over water, or else a downburst, a more frequent phenomenon that doesn’t involve the rotation of the air.
“We don’t know which it was because it all happened in the dark in the early hours of the morning, so we have no photographs,” he said.
In Italy, water spouts can involve winds of up to 200 kilometres (124 miles) per hour, while downbursts can produce gusts of more than 250 km per hour.Statistics show that downbursts are becoming more frequent around the country, which Mercalli said may be connected to global warming.
Storms and heavy rainfall have swept down Italy in recent days after weeks of scorching heat.
“The sea surface temperature around Sicily was around 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), which is almost 3 degrees more than normal. This creates an enormous source of energy that contributes to these storms,” Mercalli said. “So we can’t say that this is all due to climate change, but we can say that it has an amplifying effect.”
A similar freak storm killed four people, when their tourist boat sank on Lake Maggiore in northern Italy in May last year.
The country’s varied geology makes it prone to floods and landslides, while the fact it is flanked by rapidly warming seas means it is vulnerable to increasingly powerful storms.
“Climate-driven catastrophes in Italy will become more frequent and more intense,” Mercalli said.
Rescue operation to continue overnight
Monday 19 August 2024 18:51
Athena Stavrou
The search and rescue operation for those missing after a yacht sunk off the coast of Sicily will continue overnight, authorities said.
The director general of Sicily’s civil protection agency, Salvatore Cocina, told the BBC Cocina that the operation will carry on through the night as a specialist caving search and rescue diving team has now arrived from Rome.
They are hoping to “achieve results” during the night or by tomorrow morning at the latest.
Mike Lynch’s daughter also missing
Monday 19 August 2024 18:10
Athena Stavrou
The daughter of Mike Lynch is among those missing after a luxury yacht sank off the coast of Sicily, local authorities have said.
Salvatore Cocina, director general of Sicily’s civil protection agency, told the BBC that 18-year-old Hannah Lynch was confirmed to be missing with her father, along with the yacht’s chef, Ricardo Thomas.
He added the rescue operation would continue overnight.
Authorities say they ‘should have found something by now’ as its ‘unlikely’ more survivors will be found
Monday 19 August 2024 17:59
Athena Stavrou
Italian authorities have said it doesn’t “make sense” that they haven’t found more missing people despite searching all day.
A spokesperson for Sicily’s civil protection agency told the BBC that they “must be there [in the boat]”.
“We’ve been searching all day with helicopters and boats, we’ve found nothing. That wouldn’t make sense, in this conditions we should have found something by now,” Mr Venuto added.
It comes after a spokesman for Italy’s firefighting service told The Times earlier that it was unlikely more survivors would be found.
Update from Palermo coastguard
Monday 19 August 2024 17:43
Athena Stavrou
After hours of searching, the Palermo coastguard have confirmed the body recovered from the sunken yacht this morning was the ship’s cook.
They said six passengers remain missing as the coastguard continue their search and rescue operation ‘incessantly’.
Four patrol boats, a helicopters and a team of divers are involved, in the search effort. A naval and underwater team from the Palermo fire brigade have also joined the search
The yacht is about half a mile out to sea and is 50 metres underwater
