A sailboat believed to be carrying foreign tourists, including an Irish national, has capsized and sunk off the coast of Sicily due to bad weather. A body has been found after a luxury yacht believed to be carrying tourists sunk in bad weather off the coast of Sicily, authorities have said. Fifteen people were rescued from the 55-metre sailing ship but another six were still missing, according to the area’s mayor.
Four British passengers, two Americans and a Canadian were said to be missing, Italian news agency Ansa reported. It is not known what country the person who died is from. Local media said a fierce storm, including water spouts, battered the area overnight.
He added that a helicopter and rescue boats from the coast guard along with fire rescue service were at the scene searching for those missing. Divers had subsequently located the wreck at a depth of 50 metres. The superyacht, named Bayesian, capsized at around 5am off Palermo, the Associated Press news agency reported, and was flying a British flag, according to ship-tracking site Marine Traffic.
The sinking was due to a fierce storm, including water spouts ,which battered the area overnight. The daily Il Giornale di Sicilia newspaper reported the yacht had mostly British passengers on board, but also people from New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Ireland and British-French citizens. A causa del maltempo che si è abbattuto nel palermitano, una barca a vela con 22 persone a bordo è affondata intorno alle 5 nel tratto d.