Friday, Aug 23, 2024 4:34 AMUpdated Friday, Aug. 23, 2024 9:37 AM
Italian firefighter divers bring ashore in a plastic bag the body of one of the victims of a shipwreck, in Porticello, Sicily, southern Italy, Friday Aug. 23, 2024. Italian rescuers brought ashore the body of the final missing person who was on a superyacht that sunk off the coast of Sicily. (Alberto Lo Bianco/LaPresse via AP)
ROME (AP) — Italian rescuers on Friday brought ashore the last of seven bodies from a superyacht that sunk off the coast of Sicily, the Coast Guard said. It is believed to be that of the daughter of British tech magnate Mike Lynch, who also perished when the boat sank earlier this week.
Hannah Lynch, 18, was the last person unaccounted for aboard The Bayesian, a 56-meter (184-foot) British-flagged yacht that went down in a storm early Monday.
Mike Lynch’s body was recovered Thursday. He had been celebrating his recent acquittal on fraud charges with his family and the people who had defended him at trial in the United States. His wife, Angela Bacares, was among the 15 survivors.
"The Lynch family is devastated, in shock and is being comforted and supported by family and friends. Their thoughts are with everyone affected by the tragedy,” a spokesperson for the family said in a statement issued Friday.
Rescuers struggled for four days to find all the missing bodies, making only slow headway through the interior of the wreck lying on the seabed 50 meters (164 feet) below the surface.
Civil protection officials said they believe the ship was struck by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout, and sank quickly.
The other five victims are Christopher Morvillo, one of Lynch’s U.S. lawyers, and his wife, Neda; Jonathan Bloomer, chairman of Morgan Stanley’s London-based investment banking subsidiary, and his wife, Judy; and Recaldo Thomas, the yacht’s chef.
Termini Imerese Public Prosecutor’s Office investigators said it will hold a news conference on Saturday to unveil the first findings of its criminal investigation, which was opened immediately after the tragedy despite no formal suspects having been publicly identified.
Italian firefighter divers bring ashore in a plastic bag the body of one of the victims of a shipwreck, in Porticello, Sicily, southern Italy, Friday Aug. 23, 2024. Italian rescuers brought ashore the body of the final missing person who was on a superyacht that sunk off the coast of Sicily. (Alberto Lo Bianco/LaPresse via AP)
Italian firefighter divers bring ashore in a plastic bag the body of one of the victims of a shipwreck, in Porticello, Sicily, southern Italy, Friday Aug. 23, 2024. Italian rescuers brought ashore the body of the final missing person who was on a superyacht that sunk off the coast of Sicily. (Alberto Lo Bianco/LaPresse via AP)
Italian firefighter divers bring ashore in a plastic bag the body of one of the victims of a shipwreck, in Porticello, Sicily, southern Italy, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. Divers searching the wreck of the superyacht Bayesian that sank off Sicily on Monday recovered a fifth body on Thursday and continued to search for one more as investigators sought to learn why the vessel sank so quickly. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)
Italian Navy scuba divers work at the scene of the search for a missing boat, in Porticello, southern Italy, Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. Rescue teams and divers returned to the site of a storm-sunken super yacht to search for one person, who are believed to be still trapped in the hull 50 meters (164-feet) underwater. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)
This picture released by the Italian Firefighters on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, shows a firefighter cave diver as he prepares to reach the wrecked luxury superyacht Bayesian that sunk early Monday off the Sicilian coast in Porticciolo, in southern Italy. (Vigili del Fuoco via AP, HO)
This undated photo provided by the Lynch family shows Mike and Hannah Lynch. (Courtesy of the Lynch family via AP)
This undated photo provided by the Lynch family shows Hannah Lynch and Faucet. (Courtesy of the Lynch family via AP)
This undated photo provided by the Lynch family shows Hannah Lynch. (Courtesy of the Lynch family via AP)
