Divers search for one remaining body from Mike Lynch's boat that sank off Sicily By Reuters
PORTICELLO, Italy (Reuters) – Italian divers were searching the sunken family yacht of British technologist Mike Lynch on Thursday for the last missing body, three days after the luxury vessel capsized in a powerful storm off the coast of Sicily.
In the morning members of the fire brigade and the coast guard found the fifth body, after four bodies were removed from the accident on Wednesday and taken to nearby hospitals, in the city of Palermo.
Italian authorities have not officially identified the bodies, but Britain's Daily Telegraph reported that two of the dead were Lynch and her 18-year-old daughter. Italy's Corriere della Sera said the bodies identified so far are those of Morgan Stanley banker Jonathan Bloomer and American lawyer Chris Morvillo.
The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-meter-long (184-ft) superyacht carrying 22 passengers and crew, was docked in the port of Porticello, near Palermo, when it disappeared beneath the waves minutes after a severe storm. he hit.
15 people, including Lynch's wife, managed to escape from the boat before it capsized, and the body of Canadian-Antiguan chef, Recaldo Thomas, was found near the wreck hours after the disaster.
The operation was a challenge due to the depth and narrowness of the areas that the divers were venturing into, the fire department said in a statement.
It compared the efforts to those carried out, on a larger scale, by the Costa Concordia, the luxury liner that capsized off the Italian island of Giglio in January 2012, killing 32 people.
IGNORANCE
The disaster has baffled maritime experts who say such a vessel, built by luxury Italian boat manufacturer Perini and thought to have high-quality fittings and safety features, should have been able to withstand such weather.
Prosecutors in the nearby town of Termini Imerese have opened an investigation and authorities have begun questioning passengers and witnesses.
The captain, James Cutfield, and the crew have not officially commented on the tragedy.
Giovanni Constantino, CEO of the Italian Sea Group, which includes Perini, said the Bayesian is “one of the safest boats in the world” and is practically unsinkable.
He added that he believes the disaster was caused by a series of human errors and that the storm was expected, in interviews with Italian media.
“The ship sank because it took on water, that's what the investigators will say,” Constantino told the TG1 television news program late Wednesday.
Citing the information of the automatic tracking yacht and based on the photos available, Costantino said it took 16 minutes from the time the wind started hitting it and it started taking water to sink.
Constantino said that the group listed in Milan has suffered a lot of damage to its reputation, the shares have fallen by 2.5% since the disaster.
