Divers have recovered the bodies of two people as they search the wreck of the superyacht Bayesian, which sank off the coast of Sicily earlier this week.
Italian rescue teams have not identified the two bodies or given details about their age or sex.
The 164-foot boat, owned by the wife of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, was carrying 22 passengers when it capsized during a storm half a mile from the port of Porticello, near Palermo.
Fifteen people, including a 1-year-old child, were rescued from the sea but the boat’s chef, Ricardo Thomas, was found dead and six others were reported missing.
They included British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah.
Also missing were Jonathan Bloomer—who has chaired Morgan Stanley’s London-based international arm since 2016—his wife Judy, lawyer Chris Morvillo, and his wife.
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Lynch, who was acquitted of fraud charges in June by a federal jury in San Francisco, was celebrating the end of a 13-year legal saga by hosting close friends and supporters on board the luxury sailboat, which was owned by his wife Amanda Bacares.
The wreck of the Bayesian is on the seabed at a depth of 150 feet, which is deeper than most recreational divers are certified for.
Divers searching for survivors can only stay on the wreck for 12 minutes at a time.
Vincenzo Zagarola, of the Italian Coastguard, said they were presuming the six missing tourists were dead.
Asked about the chances of them being still alive inside the hull, he said: “Never say never, but reasonably the answer should be not.”
Zagarola said: “We think they are still inside the boat, that is our very hard idea.”
“Of course, we do not exclude that they are not inside the boat, but we know the boat sank quickly. We suppose that the six people missing may not have had time to get out of the boat,” he added.
Luca Cari, a spokesman for the rescue teams, took part in the search for the cruise ship Costa Concordia, which sank off Tuscany in 2012, with the loss of 32 lives.
British technology tycoon Mike Lynch, on March 25, 2019. Yui Mok/PA Media
Cari said, “That was much simpler. Here everything is more tight.”
Earlier experts said it was possible survivors were still alive in an air bubble and they point to British sailor Tony Bullimore, who survived for four days in the upturned hull of his capsized yacht in 1997.
Jean-Baptiste Souppez, a senior lecturer in mechanical, biomedical, and design engineering at Aston University in England, said the superyacht sank so quickly it is possible air pockets may have been created.
He said, “This is obviously highly speculative and impossible to predict accurately.”
‘A Great, Great Tragedy’
Britain’s ambassador to Italy, Edward Llewellyn, who visited Porticello on Aug. 20 said, “It’s a great, great tragedy.”
Britain sent four investigators to the scene, given the disaster involved a British-flagged ship.
The skipper of another sailboat, Karsten Borner, told the ANSA news agency and the Giornale di Sicilia newspaper he saw the Bayesian during the storm but when the wild weather dissipated it had gone and all he could see was a red flare in the sky.
Borner found a lifeboat carrying 15 people and took them aboard their yacht before alerting the Coast Guard.
The Italian Coast Guard has given the names of three more survivors—crew member Leo Eppel, and South African nationals Leah Randall and Katja Chicken, who were working as hostesses on board the Bayesian.
Associated Press, PA Media, and Reuters contributed to this report.
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