One British woman is recounting a harrowing experience. Charlotte Golunski is shedding light on how she, her 1-year-old daughter Sophie and her partner James Emsley survived after the super yacht they were passengers on sank during a freak storm off the coast of Sicily early Aug. 19.
Charlotte explained that she and her family survived because they were on the yacht's deck when it started to sink, she told Italian newspaper La Repubblica , per the BBC . According to Charlotte, she and her family were woken up by "thunder, lightning and waves that made our boat dance," and it felt like "the end of the world." When they were on the deck, the storm caused her and her family to be thrown into the water.
"For two seconds I lost my daughter in the sea," she told La Repubblica , via the BBC, "then quickly hugged her amid the fury of the waves." Charlotte made sure to do what she could to save her baby, saying that she kept her "afloat with all my strength, my arms stretched upwards to keep her from drowning." "It was all dark," she continued.
"In the water I couldn't keep my eyes open. I screamed for help but all I could hear around me was the screams of others." Luckily for Charlotte and those with her, they were able to inflate a lifeboat that 11 people climbed into.
Charlotte, Sophie and James were unharmed and transported to the hospital for monitoring. The yacht had 10 crewmembers and 12 passengers on board, and while 15 people were rescued, six remain unaccounted for, including tech magnate Mike Lynch and his daughter Hannah , who are thought to be inside the hull, which is resting at a depth of 50 meters off Porticello, near Palermo. One body believed to belong to the yacht's cook was found near the wreck, according to NBC News .
The tornado that sank the yacht is said to have been a waterspout, according to Salvo Cocina of Sicily's civil protection agency. He explained to NBC News the storm stuck overnight and caused the catastrophe, noting that unfortunately the yacht was "in the wrong place at the wrong time.".
