Five Bodies Found by Divers After Sinking of Superyacht Off Italy Coast

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Facts

  • Divers are continuing their search for a final person missing from the superyacht that sank off the Italian island of Sicily earlier in the week after five bodies were discovered on Wednesday — making the toll of those confirmed dead six people.[1]
  • On Thursday, the Italian coastguard confirmed that the bodies of those recovered were of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, Morgan Stanley international chairman Jonathan Bloomer, his wife Judy Bloomer, US lawyer Chris Morvillo, and his wife Neda Morvillo.[2]
  • Hannah Lynch, the 18-year-old daughter of the British businessman, remains missing. The body of Recaldo Thomas, the yacht's chef, was recovered earlier in the week.[2]
  • It comes after the 56-meter (185 ft) 'Bayesian' vessel sunk in the early hours of Monday near Porticello, east of the Sicilian capital of Palermo, after it was reportedly struck by a waterspout — a kind of tornado that forms over bodies of water.[3]
  • While 22 people had been on board, including 12 passengers and 10 members of crew, 15 people had managed to escape via a life raft before being rescued by a nearby vessel.[4]
  • Specialist divers have worked around the clock to access the yacht — lying on the seabed on its right side at a depth of 50 meters (164 ft) — to retrieve the missing people. However, their search was complicated by 'prohibitive' waters and by the fact that their total dive time was restricted to 12 minutes.[5]

Sources: [1]Independent, [2]Sky News (a), [3]France 24, [4]Associated Press and [5]Sky News (b).

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Daily Mail. While the boat was hit with severe weather, early indications show that the keel was not fully lowered, making the ship more susceptible to high winds, and that it was taking on a lot of water before it sank, meaning portholes were likely left open. It's likely that the yacht sank because of human error.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Yahoo News. There are many competing theories about what sunk the boat, ranging from the height of its mast, whether portholes were open, and whether its keel was fully lowered. However, investigators are still determining answers to these questions and it's too soon to say with any confidence.