‘Two bodies’ found in search for missing Bayesian superyacht sinking victims
TWO BODIES have reportedly been found in the search for six missing people after a superyacht sank in Sicily.
Divers recovered the missing passengers today while scouring the wreck, a source close to the investigation said, as it was revealed one is a “heavily built man”.
Billionaire yacht owner Mike Lynch, 59, and his daughter Hannah, 18, are among the four missing Brits after his wife Angela Bacares, 57, was saved.
The £14million luxury Bayesian capsized and plunged more than 160ft to the bottom of the sea during a freak storm at around 5am on Monday.
Out of 12 passengers and 10 crew, 15 were rescued from the water including a one-year-old British girl and her mum.
The yacht’s chef, Ricardo Thomas, was confirmed dead after rescuers found his body near the wreck on Monday.
The desperate search entered its third day today with dramatic footage showing firefighters, helicopters, police and divers scouring the sea.
Although the 184ft yacht is lying “practically intact” on its side at the bottom of the sea, rescuers have been struggling to get inside.
Diver Marco Tilotta said there was a “world of objects” including furniture and debris obstructing the narrow stairs in front of the yacht cabins.
Officials sent an underwater drone robot to the sea bed on Wednesday to help with the search, as it can remain underwater longer than the divers.
Rescuers have been working against a time crunch as they only have 10 minutes to search per dive.
Luca Cari, head of the local Fire Brigade, explained: “They can stay underwater for a maximum of 12 minutes, two of which are needed to go up and down.
“So the real time to be able to carry out the search is 10 minutes per dive.”
Italian outlet E News said Cari told them the dive teams faced “considerable difficulties” during the search.
He said: “It’s a small Concordia.
“The spaces inside the ship are very small and if you encounter an obstacle it is very complicated to move forward, just as it is very difficult to find alternative routes.”
The Concordia was a cruise ship that hit a rock underwater and capsized, killing 33, in 2012.
The boat capsized at around 5am local time on Monday when the mast collapsed off the coast of Sicily during extreme weather.
Torrential rain and wind battered much of the Porticello port in Palermo overnight on Sunday – striking the superyacht with swirling columns of air that formed waterspouts.
Witnesses said a twister snapped the 246ft boat mast – the world’s second tallest – clean in half.
Others told Italian outlet Ansa that the anchor was down when the storm hit on Monday morning, causing the boat to lose its balance.