Emergency operations are actively underway in Porticello, Sicily, where a luxury yacht holiday has turned disastrous. The coastline is alive with the sound of rescue helicopters and the ongoing efforts of divers searching for six missing passengers from the yacht Bayesian, which capsized before dawn on Monday.
The wreckage rests approximately 50 meters underwater. Luca Cari from Italy’s fire and rescue department reported that divers are restricted to only ten minutes underwater due to the challenging conditions, making the search painstakingly slow.
Divers specialized in confined space operations have been deployed from various regions, but strong winds are exacerbating the already treacherous search environment.
Rescue teams have reported no bodies discovered on the bridge, the command area of the vessel, and are currently gaining access to the lounge in search of the missing. It is feared that the missing passengers may be trapped in their cabins, likely asleep at the time of the capsizing.
Among those unaccounted for are notable figures, including British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter, as well as several other prominent international figures. The body of the yacht’s chef has been recovered, although formal identification is pending.
Angela Bacares, wife of Mike Lynch, is among the 15 individuals rescued after they activated a distress flare, alerting a nearby boat for assistance.
The sequence of events leading to this tragedy began with intense storms that swept through the area on Sunday night, culminating in a waterspout that struck the Bayesian during the early hours of Monday. Eyewitness reports indicate that the storm’s force was extraordinary, snapping the yacht’s towering mast and enveloping it in chaos.
Prior weather warnings had been issued due to extreme heat and strong winds, with temperatures in the Mediterranean reaching alarming levels conducive to such severe weather phenomena.
Among the survivors, several British nationals are currently being housed at a local hotel, inaccessible to the media. Reports highlight accounts of survival, including a woman who clung to her infant daughter amid the pandemonium.
The British ambassador to Italy expressed deep concern for the survivors, emphasizing the severity of their distressing experience and assuring assistance in navigating this tragic situation.
Marine investigators from the UK have arrived in Sicily to collaborate with local authorities on an initial assessment of the incident. Prosecutors have also launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the capsizing, examining whether preventive measures could have been implemented.
Yacht captain James Catfield described the event as a sudden and unforeseen calamity, underscoring the unpredictability of the waterspout that transformed a luxury experience into a tragic disaster.
