The wife of British billionaire Mike Lynch described her harrowing escape from their 184-foot superyacht before it capsized and sank during a squall of the coast of Sicily. Angela Bacares made it to safety along with 15 other passengers after the violent tempest struck just after 4 a.m.
Monday, consuming her sailing yacht Bayesian amidst a tower of tornado-waterspouts. The 57-year-old described how she was woken early that morning after the boat “tilted” sharply, and after initially thinking nothing was wrong found herself showered in broken glass, according to Italy’s La Republica. She then fled from her cabin – slicing her feet on the broken glass scattered across the deck – and safely made it off the boat as it slipped beneath the waves within minutes.
Her tech mogul husband – known as “Britain’s Bill Gates” – did not make it off, nor did their 18-year-old daughter, Hannah. Four others also remain missing, including Lynch’s attorney Christopher Morvillo and his wife Neda, and Morgan Stanley chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy, all of whom had gathered onboard to celebrate Lynch’s recent acquittal of multi-billion dollar fraud charges. The boat now rests about 160-feet under water, and rescuers are struggling to locate the missing whose bodies are believed to be trapped within the cabins.
It remains unclear what caused the luxurious ship to founder. Some have speculated that its unusually tall 240-foot mast — one of the tallest in the world.