The body of a fifth missing person has been recovered from the wreckage of a luxury yacht which sank off the coast of Sicily as the hunt for the remaining passenger continues. A fire service boat with flashing blue lights returned with a blue body bag to the port of Porticello just after 8.45am local time on Thursday.
Six people, including technology tycoon Mike Lynch, were unaccounted for after the vessel – named Bayesian – sank at around 5am on Monday. Salvatore Cocina, the head of Sicily’s civil protection agency, confirmed that the fifth body had been recovered on Thursday, following the recovery of four others on Wednesday. Identities of the bodies have not been confirmed by authorities, despite local and international media reporting some had been identified.
Searches resumed on Thursday morning, with Mr Cocina saying there will be an investigation in due course, but the priority is finding the final missing passenger. Among those also named as missing were Mr Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter Hannah; Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer; his wife, Judy Bloomer; Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo; and his wife, Neda Morvillo. The body of Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the superyacht, was recovered at the scene of the sinking on Monday.
Of the 22 passengers and crew on board, 15 – including Mr Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares – were rescued after escaping on to a lifeboat. The captain of another yach.