A body recovered near the luxury yacht which sank off the coast of Sicily is believed to be that of chef Recaldo Thomas. The Canadian-Antiguan national was one of 22 people aboard the Bayesian when it sank during a violent storm on Monday. His friend Gareth Williams described him as well-loved and kind, with "the deepest, most sultry voice in the world, and a smile that lit up the room.
" Divers are struggling to reach the cabins of the sunken vessel as they search for six missing passengers including the British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and the Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer. The Bayesian capsized around 700m (2,300ft) from Porticello, just east of Sicily's capital Palermo, early on Monday morning. Of the 22 people on board, 15 survived and so far only one body, that of Recaldo Thomas, has been found.
Mr Williams said he had known the chef for 30 years as they had grown up together in Antigua, where Thomas lived during yachting’s off-season. “He told me just the other day that he needed to work two more seasons to fix up his late parents' house. He loved yachting, but he was tired,” Mr Williams told the BBC's Insaf Abbas.
Another friend, Eli Fuller, said he first met the chef 25 years ago and that he was a role model to young people. “Personality was very important in his job. The world's richest people want to hang out with someone social.
He was sought after,” Mr Fuller said. “The kids would see all these white people working on .