One man has died and six people are missing after a luxury yacht sank in freak weather conditions off the coast of Sicily. The 56m British-flagged Bayesian was carrying 22 people - 12 passengers and 10 crew - when a heavy storm that created waterspouts over the water struck early on Monday. Fifteen people were rescued and a search operation for those unaccounted for - who include the British tech tycoon Mike Lynch - is ongoing.
Here is what we know about the tragedy so far, and how it unfolded. The Bayesian was struck by a sudden and powerful storm in the early hours of Monday morning, witnesses say. It was reportedly anchored to the sea bed outside the harbour at Porticello, a small fishing village to the east of Palermo, when what the Italian coastguard described as a "violent storm" hit.
The storm was so fierce that it caused waterspouts, or rotating columns of air, to appear over the sea. Witnesses told Italian news agency Ansa that the Bayesian’s anchor was down when the storm struck, causing the 72m (236ft) aluminium mast to break in half and the ship to lose its balance and sink. It disappeared beneath the water at about 05:00 local time (04:00 BST).
Karsten Borner, captain of a nearby boat, said after the storm had passed, the crew noticed the yacht that had been behind them had disappeared. "We saw a red flare, so my first mate and I went to the position, and we found this life raft drifting," he told Reuters. His crew took on board some survivors, including three .