Rescue teams in Sicily have resumed their search for six people who are still missing after a luxury superyacht was struck by a sudden tornado off the coast of Sicily. British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch , the founder of Autonomy Corporation, was one of 12 guests and 10 crew on board the 56-metre Bayesian when it went down near Porticello during a violent storm yesterday. He and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, are among those unaccounted for.
Jonathan Bloomer, chair of Morgan Stanley International, and his wife, Judy, have also been named as among the six people still missing. Lynch's wife, Angela Bacares, and 14 others were rescued by Italian coast guard patrol boats. Eight of the survivors, including a one-year-old, were transferred to local hospitals and are in a stable condition.
One body was found nearby, believed to be that of the vessel's Canadian chef, Ricardo Thomas. The public prosecutor's office in the nearby town of Termini Imerese is investigating the sinking, which occurred at around 5am local time on Monday morning. A current leading theory is that a "highly localised waterspout" – a phenomenon whereby a tornado forms over a body of water – "hit and capsized the boat", said The Telegraph .
The area where the sinking occurred has been buffeted by severe storms in recent days. "We didn't see it coming," the yacht's captain, James Catfield, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica . "It was all dark," survivor Charlotte Golunski, who was rescued along with her .