The bodies of Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter have been recovered from the wreck of the UK tech mogul’s sunken yacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily, according to reports Wednesday.
Authorities have recovered the bodies of five of the six missing passengers aboard the $18 million luxury sailing ship, which sank in a sudden storm before dawn Monday, according to authorities.
Lynch and daughter Hannah have been identified as two of the victims pulled from inside the wreckage, which is 160 feet under water, according to the UK Telegraph.
The identities of the other three bodies have not been confirmed, though the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that two of them are “large-built” — indicating they could be the missing men.
Cook Ricardo Thomas’ body, the first confirmed fatality, was discovered shortly after the Bayesian sank.
As well as Lynch and his daughter, the missing passengers on the yacht are New York City attorney Christopher Morvillo and his wife, Neda, and Morgan Stanley exec Jonathan Bloomer and his wife, Judy.
Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, and 14 others — including a 1-year-old child — managed to escape the sinking ship before it capsized.
All of the guests had gathered onboard the Bayesian to celebrate Lynch’s victory in an explosive US fraud trial. His guests included lawyers from the firm that represented him, as well as friends and allies who supported him through the legal battle.
What to know after a tornado sank the yacht Bayesian off the coast of Sicily:
- A superyacht capsized off the coast of Sicily after a tornado hit the area early Monday, killing seven passengers.
- British tech tycoon Mike Lynch was identified as one of the bodies pulled from the wreckage. His teenage daughter, Hannah, was the final one to be recovered.
- Lynch — known as “Britain’s Bill Gates” — had invited guests from Clifford Chance, a legal firm that represented him, and Invoke Capital, his own company, on the voyage, according to the Telegraph.
- Security camera footage shot from 650 feet from where the Bayesian sank Monday shows it disappearing.
- A rare and unexpected “black swan” weather event may have led to the Bayesian’s speedy demise, maritime experts say.
The wealthy tech founder — who was once dubbed “Britain’s Bill Gates” — was acquitted just two months ago by a San Francisco jury of fraud charges linked to the sale of his software company, Autonomy, to Hewlett-Packard for $11 billion in 2011. The sale quickly turned sour after HP wrote down Autonomy’s value by $8.8 billion.
The British-flagged Bayesian superyacht was carrying 12 passengers and 10 crew members as it was anchored off the port of Porticello and struck by what witnesses described as a sudden tornado.
Several search boats could be seen leaving the port of Porticello to go to the site of the sinking around 3:30 p.m. local time Wednesday as news of the latest discovery was shared, according to the reports.
