A manslaughter investigation has been launched into the deaths of seven people in the sinking of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily, an Italian prosecutor said.
British tech mogul Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter Hannah were among six people recovered after the Bayesian superyacht sank near Porticello at about 5am local time on Monday.
The body of Canadian-Antiguan national Recaldo Thomas, who was working as a chef on the superyacht, was recovered at the scene on Monday.
Ambrogio Cartosio, public prosecutor of nearby town Termini Imerese, said in a press conference at the town’s court on Saturday that his office has opened an initial investigation into manslaughter.
“The Termini Imerese prosecution has opened a case hypothesising the crime of shipwreck and of manslaughter but we are only at the initial stage of the inquiry so far,” he said.
He added: “I have to emphasise that the development of the inquiry could actually be of any sort imaginable.”
The main question investigators are focusing on is how a sailing vessel deemed “unsinkable” by its manufacturer, Italian shipyard Perini Navi, sank while a nearby sailboat remained largely unscathed.
The Bayesian sunk in a storm near the Sicilian capital of Palermo on Monday during a trip to celebrate the acquittal of Mr Lynch in a fraud case in the US.
Bayesian blackbox still not found
The Bayesian yacht’s blackbox has not been found, prosecutors have said.
He also refused to reveal any details about whether diver had found that hatches had been left open, allowing water to flood in, or whether the stabilising keel had been raised before the coming storm, making the yacht more unstable.
“We can’t reveal anything at this stage, but the facts will be confirmed by the latr search of the wreckage,” he said.
“The whole matter is sub-judice and we’re waiting for an analysis to confirm the information.”
Autopsies on victims ‘not done yet’, prosecutors say
Autopsies on the victims “have not been done yet”, prosecutors said.
They also said that they do not know the specific timeline of the investigation and said it depends on the owners of the yacht and maritime authorities.
“After all, the wreck is 50 metres down,” they said.
Prosecutors give update on timeline of investigation
Prosecutors have said they will first need to salvage the wreck oft he Bayesian yacht before knowing exactly what has happened. They said they cannot confirm how long it will take, despite some experts suggesting it will take eight weeks.
“The main priority is retrieving the boat,” a prosectutor told the press conference.
Bodies were recovered from cabins on the left side of the yacht
The bodies of six people were recovered from cabins on the left side of the yacht after it had sunk, the chief of the Palermo fire service said.
Girolamo Bentivoglio said, through a translation provided by the BBC, that specialised divers attempting to retrieve the bodies had to deal with “very little visibility due to the weather conditions” and were called in from across the country as part of a search-and-rescue operation which involved “some 70 people” each day.
He added: “The yacht obviously pinned to the right and obviously the (people) tried to go on the other side and then took refuge in their cabins.
“We found four or five bodies in the cabin on the left and there was another one in the third cabin on the left too, and obviously they were in the higher part of the wreck.
“Obviously, emergency procedures were implemented by the divers and obviously we installed cameras and involved further divers.
“And we involved obviously helicopter services and other surveillance cameras.”
Prosecutor says Bayesian incident is a ‘very grave tragedy’
A top prosecutor in Sicily outlined the order in which the bodies of six people who had been missing following the yacht sinking were retrieved, calling the incident a “very grave tragedy”.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, public prosecutor Ambrogio Cartosio said: “These six persons who tried desperately to save themselves were finally retrieved.
“First of all, four of them. Jonathan Bloomer the banker, Christopher Morvillo the lawyer, and all four of them were retrieved from inside the yacht which was 50 metres down.
“Then, later, the other two were also retrieved.
“Michael Lynch on the 23rd, yesterday, and then the 18-year-old daughter of Michael Lynch, Hannah, was found yesterday morning.
“It is a very grave tragedy and in order to reduce the dimensions of the tragedy, we have called upon the co-operation of the firefighters, firefighting divers, who have shown incredible courage and skill, who carried out a very difficult mission indeed and have allowed us to inspect properly the wreck for bodies.”
Chief prosecutor says there ‘could be a question of homicide’ in sinking of Bayesian
A manslaughter investigation has been opened into the deaths of seven people in the sinking of a luxury yacht off the coast of Sicily, Ambrogio Cartosio, public prosecutor of Termini Imerese, said.
Mr said Cartosio there “could be a question of homicide” in the sinking and that it could have been be caused by “behaviours that were not in order”. But he added that “this is just, in fact, the beginning of an inquiry”.
Watch live: Chief prosecutor leading investigation into Mike Lynch yacht sinking gives press conference
Watch: Moment Bayesian yacht engulfed by storm
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Pictured: who was killed in the incident?
Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife Neda Morvillo also died following the sinking of the yacht.
Source: independent.co.uk