'Britain's Bill Gates' among 6 missing after superyacht tragedy off coast of Sicily: 'We should have found something by now'
The British entrepreneur Mike Lynch is among six people missing after a superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily during a storm. The Guardian reports that 22 people were onboard when the vessel sank, of whom 15 have been rescued by the Italian coastguard and firefighters, including a one year-old child, while one person has died.
Lynch and his 18 year-old daughter Hannah are among three Britons that remain missing, while his wife, Angela Bacares, has been rescued. Two Americans and a Canadian are also missing.
A statement from the Italian coastguard reads: «This morning at about 5:00 am, following a violent storm, a 56-metre yacht called Bayesian flying the British flag sank near Porticello.»
Local reports said the boat sank after being hit by a waterspout, a mix of wind and water that can form in storms and is often referred to as a mini-tornado. The BBC reports that fishers saw the waterspout off the coast at around 3:55 am local time, and shortly afterwards saw a distress flare that may have come from the Bayesian. Approaching, they found only «scattered remains of the sailboat floating in the water.»
Eight of those rescued, including the baby, are now in local hospitals in a stable condition. The captain of a nearby boat told reporters he had taken on 15 survivors from a life raft, and that the Bayesian was «heeling» (listing to one side) before it went under.
The one year-old was saved by her mother, who held her daughter's head above the water while screaming for rescue. «It was all dark,» said the woman, named by the BBC as British citizen Charlotte Golunski. «In the water, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I was screaming for help, but all I could hear around me were the screams of others.»
The Bayesian is owned by Revtom, a firm registered in the Isle of Man of which Angela Bacares is the sole owner. The luxury yacht can carry 12 guests and a crew of ten.
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