UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch missing, 1 dead after yacht sinks off Sicily in storm
- A person familiar with the rescue said Lynch and his daughter, 18, were among 6 people not accounted for. Lynch’s lawyer is also missing
One man died and six people were missing, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter, after a luxury yacht was struck by an unexpectedly violent storm and sank off Sicily early on Monday.
The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-metre-long (184-ft) sailing boat, was carrying 22 people and was anchored just off shore near the port of Porticello when it was hit by ferocious weather, the Italian coastguard said in a statement.
Eyewitnesses said the yacht vanished quickly beneath the waves shortly before dawn. Fifteen people escaped before it went down, including Lynch’s wife, Angela Bacares, who owned the boat, and a one-year-old girl.
The names of the dead and missing were not immediately released, but a person familiar with the rescue operation confirmed that Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, were not accounted for.
Among the missing and feared dead were Lynch’s lawyer Christopher Morvillo and Morvillo’s wife, according to a colleague.
Italian media said the dead man was the yacht’s on-board chef.
