Searches continue unabated for a third day at the site where the luxury yacht Bayesian sank off the coast of Palermo, killing one passenger.
According to the Guardian, the six people missing after the yacht capsized in the early hours of Monday are presumed dead. These include British businessman Mike Lynch and his 18-year-old daughter, Morgan Stanley International chairman Jonathan Blumer and lawyer Chris Morvillo, who had represented Lynch in his recent high-profile trial in the United States. The wives of both are also missing, as the head of the Civil Protection Service in Sicily confirmed to the Italian media yesterday.
The British-flagged sailing vessel 'Bayesian', 56 meters long, was moored just outside Porticello harbor when it was hit by a severe storm and sank within minutes. As the Daily Mail reports today, the Italian authorities have launched an investigation to determine if there were portholes that the crew had left open, as a result of which the boat sank so quickly. Investigators will examine whether appropriate measures were taken, given the forecast for bad weather during the fatal night, and whether any of the crew members are criminally liable.
Despite persistent efforts yesterday, rescue crews were unable to gain access to the interior of the sunken vessel.
Vicenzo Zaggarola from the Italian Coast Guard confirmed that 36 hours after the start of the rescue operation, no trace of the missing has been found.
"We are not ruling out the possibility that they are not in the boat, but we know that it sank quickly. We estimate that the six people who are missing may not have had time to get out," he said. Asked if there was still a chance they would be found alive, he replied: "Never say never, but the logical answer is no."
The latest information is that the divers working at the wreck site have managed to locate a breach in the hull, which they are trying to widen to get into the boat and the cabins where the 6 missing people are believed to be.
Source: protothema.gr