Sunday, December 22, 2024

Superyacht sinks: Divers find body of final person missing from inside wreckage

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Divers have found the body of the final person missing from a superyacht that sank off Sicily, believed to be Hannah Lynch, the 18-year-old daughter of tycoon Mike Lynch.

The Bayesian sank around half a mile off the coast of the island as storms hit on Monday morning.

Six bodies have now been found in the search of the wreckage, the Italian coastguard said today. This takes the number of confirmed deaths to seven.

Rescuers could be seen transporting the final body back to the shore this afternoon.

Superyacht sinks latest: Investigators gather evidence

Vincenzo Zagarola, from the coastguard, said the search was not “easy or quick” and likened the sunken yacht to an “18-storey building full of water”.

The wreckage of the Bayesian is sitting on the seabed at a depth of 50m.

Image:
Hannah Lynch

An Italian fire service dive team return to port on the fifth day of the search and recovery operation.
Pic: PA
Image:
An Italian fire service dive team return to port on the fifth day of the search and recovery operation. Pic: PA

Five bodies had already been brought to the shore in Porticello, a Sicilian village around 11 miles from the island’s capital Palermo.

There were 22 people aboard when the Bayesian sank at around 5am local time on Monday.

Fifteen of them – including Mr Lynch’s wife Angela Bacares – were rescued after escaping on to a lifeboat.

More from Sky News:
How investigators will look into the disaster
Who was on the superyacht?

Rescue personnel transport what is believed to be the body of Hannah Lynch, daughter of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, at the scene where a luxury yacht sank, off the coast of Porticello, near the Sicilian city of Palermo, Italy, August 23, 2024. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi
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Rescue personnel transport what is believed to be the body of Hannah Lynch. Pic: Reuters

Rescue personnel transport what is believed to be the body of Hannah Lynch.
Pic: Reuters
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Rescuers have recovered six bodies from the sunken vessel, after a five-day search operation. Pic: Reuters

Mr Lynch, his daughter Hannah, bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, and lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda were lost when storms hit and capsized the vessel.

The body of Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working on the superyacht as a chef, was recovered at the scene of the sinking on Monday.

Pic:Danny Wheelz
Image:
The Bayesian. File pic: Danny Wheelz

British mother Charlotte Golunski was among the survivors and has since recalled how she held her baby daughter above the waves to save her as the vessel sank.

Ms Golunski had been sleeping on the boat’s deck when the storm hit.

The group had been enjoying a holiday to celebrate Mr Lynch’s acquittal in a fraud case in the United States.

In June, the businessman – who founded software company Autonomy in the 1990s – was cleared of carrying out a massive fraud related to the £8.64bn sale of his company to US giant Hewlett Packard.

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