Italian prosecutors are investigating potential manslaughter charges in connection with the tragic sinking of the superyacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily, where violent storms claimed the lives of seven people, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah. The body of Hannah, who had been missing since the yacht capsized early on Monday morning, was recovered on Friday by the Italian coastguard.
The recovery marked the end of a four-day search for the missing, with Hannah being the last unaccounted-for victim. A green body bag was seen being brought to Porticello from the site of the sinking just before 1 p.m. local time, as reported by the Press Association news agency.
The public prosecutor of Termini Imerese is conducting an investigation into charges of shipwreck, disaster, and multiple homicides related to the sinking, according to the Italian news agency Adnkronos. These charges, which are akin to manslaughter in the UK, include the specific charge of provoking or causing a shipwreck, which can carry a prison sentence of up to 12 years.
Mike Lynch, 59, the founder of Autonomy Corporation, was aboard the 56-meter yacht celebrating his recent acquittal on fraud charges in the US when the vessel capsized around 5 a.m. local time on Monday. Adnkronos reported that the yacht sank bow first before slowly capsizing onto its right side. Sources involved in the recovery operations indicated that the victims were found outside their cabins, suggesting that they had attempted to escape as water began flooding the yacht. Five of the victims were discovered in locations different from those identified by survivors.
Search efforts to locate Hannah Lynch intensified on Friday morning, with divers also inspecting the seabed around the wreckage. Vincenzo Zagarola of the Italian coastguard described the search for Hannah as neither “easy nor quick,” likening the sunken yacht to an “18-storey building full of water.” Carlo Dall’Oppio, the national head of Italy’s firefighters, who arrived in Porticello on Thursday, noted that the search was complicated by furniture obstructing the divers’ passage.
The other victims of the tragedy include Jonathan Bloomer, chair of Morgan Stanley International, his wife Judy, lawyer Chris Morvillo, his wife Neda, and the yacht’s chef, Recaldo Thomas. The incident has sent shockwaves through the international community as authorities continue to investigate the circumstances leading to the devastating shipwreck.
