ROME — British tech magnate Mike Lynch and five other people were missing after their luxury superyacht sank off Sicily early Monday, Italy's civil protection and authorities said. Lynch's wife and 14 other people survived. Lynch, who was acquitted in June in a big U.
S. fraud trial, was among six people who remain unaccounted for after their chartered sailboat sank off Porticello, near Palermo, sometime after 4 a.m.
A tornado over the water known as a waterspout struck the area overnight, said Salvo Cocina of Sicily's civil protection agency. One body was recovered, and police divers spent the day trying to reach the hull of the ship, which was resting at a depth of 163 feet off Porticello, where it was anchored, rescue authorities said. The divers returned to the site after 10 p.
m. to see if it would be possible to search through the night, when weather conditions were expected to worsen, said Luca Cari, spokesman of the fire rescue service. People are also reading.
.. The boat had 10 crew members and 12 passengers, the Italian coast guard said.
A sudden fierce storm battered the area overnight, and struck precisely where the 184foot British-flagged Bayesian was moored. "They were in the wrong place at the wrong time," Cocina said, noting that another big ship nearby, the Sir Robert Baden Powell, wasn't as badly damaged and helped rescue the 15 survivors — including Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares. The Bayesian, built in 2008, was notable for its single 246-foot mast — one.