Locals in Sligo have described their relief after an Irish woman was rescued when a yacht sank off the coast of Sicily earlier this week. The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56m-long superyacht, was carrying 22 people, and was anchored off the port of Porticello, near Palermo, when it capsized during a fierce storm on Monday. Sasha Murray, 29, from Maugherow in Co Sligo, was working as crew on the Bayesian and was one of 15 survivors.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, seven people were reported missing. The body of man believed to be the boat’s chef, Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian-Antiguan man, was recovered near the yacht on Monday. On Wednesday, four bodies were found inside the wreck of a luxury yacht .
Rescue officials have been looking for six missing people, including tech tycoon Mike Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter, and Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chair of Morgan Stanley International. The identities of the victims found on Wednesday were not immediately given. Neighbours of the Irish woman caught up in the incident said she is “outgoing” and “very personable”.
“She is a lovely girl," said Dessie Carway, a neighbour who knows the family and runs the Sligo Sea Barn beachfront tourist accommodation in the Maugherow area. Ms Murray’s family, who are "respected locally" has already endured tragedy. Her father, motor racer Fionn Murray and grandfather, Holger Schiller, were killed when the light aircraft they were flying crashed after taking off from S.