Four bodies aboard the wreck of a luxury yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily were recovered by divers on Wednesday (August 21). The British-flagged superyacht Bayesian went down in the early hours of Monday morning near the Sicilian capital of Palermo after being caught in a violent tornado, called waterspout. The vessel was carrying 22 people, including 12 crew members and 10 passengers.
Fifteen survivors were rescued, while six remained missing including British tech entrepreneur Michael Lynch. One person confirmed to be dead early on in the rescue operations is chef Recaldo Thomas. Rescue workers are searching for the people unaccounted for.
However, a spokesperson for the Italian coast guard has said those missing were presumed dead. Who is still missing and who has been found? Let’s take a closer look. Who has been found? Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah are believed to have been found during the rescue mission on Wednesday, as per The Telegraph report.
Lynch, a tech entrepreneur, was once dubbed “Britain’s Bill Gates”. He is a founder of the software company Autonomy Corporation, Invoke Capital and cybersecurity firm Darktrace, reported Forbes. Just weeks before, the 59-year-old was acquitted in the US on multiple fraud charges, reported BBC .
The case was related to the sale of his company Autonomy to the tech giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011, over which he had been facing 20 years in jail. Lynch had told Sunday Times last month that he was “about to go on a very long holiday.” The people on board the superyacht were celebrating Lynch’s legal victory, as per New York Times (NYT) .
Several from the group were involved in his recent trial. According to the Times newspaper, his daughter Hannah was to study English at Oxford University in the fall. Salvo Cocina, the director of Sicily’s civil protection agency, told The Telegraph that he believed Lynch and his daughter had been found.
He continued: “On behalf of myself and my colleagues, I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the families of the victims and express our condolences to them at this difficult time”. The four bodies recovered, whose identities are yet to be revealed, were trapped inside their cabins when the vessel sank earlier in the week, reported NYT. Recaldo Thomas, a Canadian-Antiguan chef, was confirmed dead after his body was recovered near the Bayesian yacht.
He was working on the boat, reported BBC. Who remains missing? Morgan Stanley International bank chairman Jonathan Bloomer and his wife Judy Bloomer are still missing. Jonathan, who is also the chairman of the insurance provider Hiscox, studied at Imperial College London.
He had appeared at the US trial as a defence witness for Lynch, as per the Financial Times. Speaking to BBC , Bloomer’s twin brother, Jeremy, said he and his family were “coping the best we can”. “He was my elder by half an hour, so, it means a lot when you lose a twin brother.
We’ll still wait and see, so it’s fingers crossed," he said. Jeremy said he hoped that some onboard the sunken yacht had survived in air pockets . Jonathan’s wife Judy is a trustee of The Eve Appeal charity, which supports gynaecological cancer research.
As per Independent , the charity described her as a “brilliant champion for women’s health and medical research...
an incredible supporter, committee member, and trustee of our charity for over 20 years”. Chris Morvillo, a lawyer with the Clifford Chance law firm in New York, is also missing. He represented Lynch in his US trial.
According to his biography on the firm’s website, 59-year-old Morvillo served as an assistant attorney for the southern district of New York from 1999 to 2005. His tenure included working on the criminal probe of the attacks on the World Trade Center, reported BBC. His wife and US jewellery designer Neda Morvillo is also unaccounted for, as confirmed by the law firm Clifford Chance.
A spokesperson for the firm said: “We are in shock and deeply saddened by this tragic incident.” The 57-year-old runs her luxury jewellery business under the name, Neda Nassiri. “Neda has been designing and hand-crafting fine jewellery in New York City for over 20 years,” her company’s website says.
ALSO READ : Luxury yacht sinks off Sicily: Marine experts delve into what might have happened Who survived? The 15 rescued people included nine members of the yacht’s crew. Eight were admitted for treatment at local hospitals and have since been discharged, reported Forbes. Angela Bacares, Lynch’s wife, is among the survivors.
Charlotte Golunski, a partner at Lynch’s Invoke Capital, was rescued along with her partner and baby girl, as per the BBC report. Ayla Ronald and her partner were among the rescued. She had defended Lynch in court and was part of the celebration on the yacht.
James Catfield, the captain of the superyacht, was among those rescued. Leo Eppel, a crew member, also survived the horror. With inputs from agencies.
